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Understanding the genomic selection for crop improvement: current progress and future prospects

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Abstract

Although increased use of modern breeding techniques and technology has resulted in long-term genetic gain, the pace of genetic gain must be sped up to satisfy global agricultural demand. However, marker-assisted selection has proven its potential for improving qualitative traits with large effects regulated by one to few genes. Its contribution to the improvement of the quantitative traits regulated by a number of small-effect genes is modest. In this context, genomic selection (GS) has been regarded as the most promising method for genetically enhancing complicated features that are regulated by several genes, each of which has minor effects. By examining a population's phenotypes and high-density marker scores, genomic selection can forecast the breeding potential of individual lines. The fact that GS uses all marker data in the prediction model prevents skewed marker effect estimations and maximizes the amount of variation caused by small-effect QTL. It has the ability to speed up the breeding cycle and as a consequence of which superior genotypes are selected rapidly. Developing the best GS models while taking into account non-additive effects, genotype-by-environment interaction, and cost-effectiveness will enable the widespread implementation of GS in plants. These steps will also increase heritability estimation and prediction accuracy. This review focuses on the shift from conventional selection methods to GS, underlying statistical tools and methodologies, the state of GS research in agricultural plants, and prospects for its effective use in the creation of climate-resilient crops.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, 813210, India

    Rabiya Parveen, Mankesh Kumar & Zafar Imam

  2. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi, 761211, India

    Swapnil

  3. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Narayan Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Gopal Narayan Singh University, Sasaram, 821305, India

    Digvijay Singh

  4. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, 313001, India

    Monika Shahani

  5. Department of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, C.V. Raman Global University, Bhubaneswar, 752054, India

    Jyoti Prakash Sahoo

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  1. Rabiya Parveen
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Contributions

Rabiya: drafting of manuscript, final referencing and editing; Swapnil: collection of supporting papers and written a part of manuscript; DZ: written a part of manuscript and helped in editing manuscript ; Mankesh: editing the manuscript; Monika: collection of papers; JP: Coordinates the process. All authors read and approve the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jyoti Prakash Sahoo.

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Communicated by Bing Yang.

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Parveen, R., Kumar, M., Swapnil et al. Understanding the genomic selection for crop improvement: current progress and future prospects. Mol Genet Genomics 298, 813–821 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-023-02026-0

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