MARKER-ASSISTED BACKCROSS SELECTION: PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN AN ELITE VARIETY OF MAJOR FIELD CROPS

Advancement in the field of Molecular Marker technology and Genome Sequencing has enabled plant breeders to identify the desirable plants in segregating populations at any developmental stage irrespective of environmental conditions. In conventional backcross breeding, the breeder encounters technical difficulties such as a back cross programme extended till BC6F1 to recover the maximum proportion of recurrent parent genome; the undesirable portion of donor genome transfer along with target gene into recipient parent and it deteriorates the agronomic performance of the variety, linkage drag. Marker-Assisted Backcross facilitates gene transfer with the help of gene-linked markers (Foreground Selection), a chance to recover the maximum of recurrent genome even in BC2Fn generation (Background Selection) with the minimum of linkage drag. This review describes the progress made to improve the performance of popular varieties and released for commercial cultivation using the technique of Marker-Assisted Background Selection.