Molecular Markers for Genetic Fidelity during In Vitro Propagation of Horticultural Crops

摘要

The commercial multiplication of a large number of diverse plant species represents one of the major success stories of utilizing tissue culture technology profitably. Micropropagation has now become a multibillion dollar industry, practised all over the world. However, scaling up of any micropropagation protocol can be hindered by somaclonal variation. Molecular markers have been introduced in tissue culture research. This review describes the use of molecular markers in micropropagated plants for the assessment of genetic fidelity, uniformity, stability and trueness-to-type. The relative merits and shortcomings of the various molecular markers applied are presented. Further I describe the potential of such tools for improving crops of horticultural importance.