DNA BASED MOLECULAR MARKERS IN PLANT VARIETAL IDENTIFICATION: A REVIEW

Abstract

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in crop yields leading to the development of new cultivars and varieties. A variety, of a cultivated crop species, differs from other varieties of the same species by one or more specific characteristics such as disease resistance, plant height, yield, maturity etc. Several molecular marker systems have been developed for distinguishing varieties or species of agricultural and horticultural importance. It is very important to define identity, purity and stability of varieties for breeders’ rights protection institutions as well as for an effective seed quality control programme. Identification of varieties is indeed important as it not only helps in assessing purity, in measuring genetic diversity, improving germplasm for better agronomic performance and in delimiting germplasm duplicates. This can be achieved by simple morphological characters to biochemical identification and molecular markers.