marker-assisted selection in wheat - ictsd

382Marker-assisted selection – Current status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fishSummaryMolecular markers and related technologies have been used extensively in geneticcharacterization and identification of loci controlling traits of economic importance inmany crop species. However, the application of such tools for crop improvement has notbeen extensive, at least in the public sector. Although there are clear advantages in usingmolecular markers as tools for indirect selection of traits of importance, available examplesindicate that their use is restricted to traits with monogenic inheritance or when theinheritance is conditioned by a few genes with large effects. Another important limitation oflarge-scale marker applications is the cost involved in marker assays, which may be beyondthe capacities of many public plant breeding enterprises. For an effective marker-assistedselection (MAS) activity to facilitate ongoing crop improvement programmes, especially inthe context of the developing countries, laboratories with adequate capacity and adequatelytrained scientific personnel as well as operational resources are required. Although recenttechnological advances such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and associatedassay protocols are likely to reduce assay costs significantly, for many of these operations,assay platforms with significant capital investments including computational capacity arerequired. Coupled with these limitations, private sector domination of biotechnologyresearch with proprietary rights to important products and processes with immediatebenefits to developing countries may further constrain the benefits these technologiesmay offer to resource-poor farmers. Policy-makers in different national programmesand international development and research agencies have a responsibility to sustain andaugment the capacity of national public agricultural research organizations to ensure thatbiotechnology tools and processes are infused appropriately into national research efforts.They must also ensure that any biotechnology efforts undertaken are well integrated withnational crop improvement activities.