Molecular Breakthroughs in Modern Plant Breeding Techniques

Abstract

Advancements in molecular approaches have been utilized to breed crops with a wide range of economically valuable traits to develop superior cultivars. This review provides a concise overview of modern breakthroughs in molecular plant production. Genotyping and high-throughput phenotyping methods for predictive plant breeding are briefly discussed. In this study, we explore contemporary molecular breeding techniques for producing desirable crop varieties. These techniques include cisgenesis, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR/Cas9) gene editing, haploid induction, and de novo domestication. We examine the speed breeding approach—a strategy for cultivating plants under controlled conditions. We further highlight the significance of modern breeding technologies in efficiently utilizing agricultural resources for crop production in urban areas. The deciphering of crop genomes has led to the development of extensive DNA markers, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and pangenomes associated with various desirable crop traits. This shift to the genotypic selection of crops considerably expedites the plant breeding process. Based on the plant population used, the connection between genotypic and phenotypic data provides several genetic elements, including genes, markers, and alleles that can be used in genomic breeding and gene editing. The integration of speed breeding with genomic-assisted breeding and cutting-edge genome editing tools has made it feasible to rapidly manipulate and generate multiple crop cycles and accelerate the plant breeding process. Breakthroughs in molecular techniques have led to substantial improvements in modern breeding methods.