ABSTRACT
The existing genetic diversity in plant population is of fundamental interest for basic science and applied aspects like the efficient management of crop genetic resources. The processes dealing with improvement of crop genetic resources require an assessment of diversity at some level, to select resistant, highly productive varieties. With recent advances in genomics and sequencing technologies, molecular techniques have initiated a new era of molecular diversity in plants. Molecular techniques have had critical roles in studies of phylogeny and species evolution as well, and have been applied to increase our understanding of the distribution and extent of genetic variation within and between the species. This chapter summarizes recent progress in the area of advancement of molecular techniques with an emphasis on novel techniques and approaches that offer new insights into the molecular diversity in plants and plant-associated microbes present in the rhizosphere. The advantages and pitfalls of commonly used molecular methods to investigate molecular diversity in plants are also discussed. In addition, the potential applications of such molecular techniques and how they can be combined for a greater comprehensive assessment of molecular diversity in plants have been discussed here.
