Chapters authored
Genomic Tools to Accelerate Improvement in Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench), is an important vegetable crop with limited studies on genomics. It is considered as an essential constituent for balanced food due to its dietary fibers, amino-acid and vitamins. It is most widely cultivated for its pods throughout Asia and Africa. Most of the okra cultivation is done exclusively in the developing countries of Asia and Africa with very poor productivity. India ranks first in the world with a production of 6.3 million MT (72% of the total world production). Cultivated okra is mostly susceptible to a large number of begomoviruses. Yellow vein mosaic disease (YVMD) caused by Yellow vein mosaic virus (YVMV) of genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) results in the serious losses in okra cultivation. Symptoms of YVMD are chlorosis and yellowing of veins and veinlets at various levels, small size leaves, lesser and smaller fruits, and stunting growth. The loss in yield, due to YVMD in okra was found ranging from 30 to 100% depending on the age of the plant at the time of infection. Exploitation of biotechnological tools in okra improvement programmes is often restricted, due to the non availability of abundant polymorphic molecular markers and defined genetic maps. Moreover, okra genome is allopolyploid in nature and possess a large number of chromosomes (2n = 56–196) which makes it more complicated. Genomics tools like RNA- seq. for transcriptome analysis has emerged as a powerful tool to identify novel transcript/gene sequences in non-model plants like okra.
Part of the book: Landraces
Classical Genetics and Traditional Breeding in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)
Rapid progress has been made in classical genetics and traditional breeding in cucumber for various quantitative and qualitative traits which greatly benefited the development of superior varieties suitable for open field and protected cultivation. The different breeding methods like plant introductions, hybridizations, pedigree selection, recombination breeding and marker assisted selection have been employed successfully in developing superior varieties and F1 hybrids. The development of new varieties with earliness, high-yield and resistance to diseases (powdery mildew, downy mildew and tolerant to virus) through selection of superior parental lines followed by hybridization and marker assisted introgression of desired genes was a game changer in cucumber breeding. The exploitation of gynoecious sex along with parthenocarpic traits in traditional breeding has made revolution in cucumber cultivation throughout the world which enabled the adoption of cucumber crop by farming community on large scale. Molecular markers technology could be exploited to overcome the obstacle of traditional breeding by accelerating the breeding cycle and selection of desirable traits. The high density genetic maps for various traits have been constructed in cucumber to detected quantitative traits loci (QTLs) for genetic enhancement in different market classes of cucumber. Therefore, this chapter highlighted the concepts of genetic foundations for advancement made in cucumber breeding.
Part of the book: Cucumber Economic Values and Its Cultivation and Breeding