Genomics-Enabled Next-Generation Breeding Approaches for Developing System-Specific Drought Tolerant Hybrids in Maize

Abstract

Breeding science has immensely contributed to the global food security. Several varieties and hybrids in different food crops including maize have been released through conventional breeding. The ever growing population, decreasing agricultural land, lowering water table, changing climate, and other variables pose tremendous challenge to the researchers to improve the production and productivity of food crops. Drought is one of the major problems to sustain and improve the productivity of food crops including maize in tropical and subtropical production systems. With advent of novel genomics and breeding tools, the way of doing breeding has been tremendously changed in the last two decades. Drought tolerance is a combination of several component traits with a quantitative mode of inheritance. Rapid DNA and RNA sequencing tools and high-throughput SNP genotyping techniques, trait mapping, functional characterization, genomic selection, rapid generation advancement, and other tools are now available to understand the genetics of drought tolerance and to accelerate the breeding cycle. Informatics play complementary role by managing the big-data generated from the large-scale genomics and breeding experiments. Genome editing is the latest technique to alter specific genes to improve the trait expression. Integration of novel genomics, next-generation breeding, and informatics tools will accelerate the stress breeding process and increase the genetic gain under different production systems.

Selection criteria for high-yielding and early-flowering bread wheat hybrids under heat stress

“…Genotyping and molecular marker development as well as recombinant DNA technology provide the potential to achieve advanced knowledge and to create valuable tools to assist in the selection and breeding of novel plant varieties with enhanced photosynthetic efficiency, increased biotic stress tolerance, or better performance under unfavorable abiotic conditions. This, in turn, allows the creation of a new generation of sustainable crops [52]. Genetic identification of wheat cultivars by using morphological analyses is usually inaccurate, especially in the early stages of plant development [50].…”

Transcription factors involved in abiotic stress responses in Maize (Zea maysL.) and their roles in enhanced productivity in the post genomics era

“…Therefore, in order to efficiently understand the plants response to the different abiotic stresses at the molecular level, a deeper understanding of the systems involved in transcription regulation is required. Trait mapping, functional characterization, genomic selection, rapid RNA, and DNA high-throughput SNP genotyping tools, sequencing technologies, and other platforms are currently used to analyze the genetic mechanisms of different abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, and cold in an effort to speed up the breeding process in maize (Nepolean et al, 2018).…”

Comparative Proteomic and Morpho-Physiological Analyses of Maize Wild-Type Vp16 and Mutant vp16 Germinating Seed Responses to PEG-Induced Drought Stress

“…Consequently, the production and productivity of various crops in such regions will be drastically affected [5]. This poses an austere challenge to the food security of the growing world human population, projected to hit above 9 billion people by the year 2050 [7,8].…”