ABSTRACT
Molecular approaches in cassava breeding Luis Augusto Becerra Lopez-Lavalle, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia
1 Introduction
2 Genetic diversity
3 Marker-assisted selection (MAS)
4 Genome sequencing of cassava
5 Genetic engineering in cassava
6 References
In cassava, as for other major crops, molecular markers can reveal the genetic basis for both qualitative and quantitative phenotypic changes. These molecular markers are chromosome landmarks that tag genes or gene regions that to a large extent contribute to a desired phenotype. They indicate differences in nucleotide sequences that can be uncovered by interrogating the crop’s DNA using PCR and non-PCR approaches. DNA markers are abundant and many of them show high polymorphism levels. They are extremely useful to breeders because they are not influenced by the environment, thus allowing the indirect selection for a trait in the absence of ideal conditions, that is, where the trait is not expressed reliably due to absence of an impact factor such as pests or pathogens, or because of genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions.
