Genetics Genomics And Breeding Of Oilseed Brassicas

The book describes the history of Brassica oilseed crops, introduces the Brassica genome, its evolution, diversity, classical genetic studies, and breeding. It also delves into molecular genetic linkage and physical maps, progress with genome sequencing initiatives, mutagenesis approaches for trait improvement, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinfo

Due to their diversity, vegetable Brassicas are of great economic import and offer unique opportunities to enrich our knowledge about plant growth, development, and rapid phenotypic evolution. By applying emerging genomic technologies, we may greatly increase our understanding of the Brassica biology and breeding efficiency. This volume contains 11 chapters contributed by 34 specialists with extensive experience in genetics, molecular breeding, and genomics of vegetable Brassicas. Recent achievements and new technologies presented in this book will provide support to further research the genetics and genomics of vegetable Brassica crops and facilitate their genetic improvement.

The sunflower has fascinated mankind for centuries. The oilseed sunflower contributes approximately ten percent of the world’s plant-derived edible oil and the confection type sunflower holds a considerable share of the directly consumed snacks market. In addition, sunflower is also grown as an ornamental for cut flowers, as well as in home gardens. We are now embarking on the age of genomics which will expedite the process of genetic improvement of crops. There has been an explosion of information on genetic markers, DNA sequences, and genomic resources for most major food crops including sunflower. This volume is intended to bridge traditional research with modern molecular investigations on sunflower.

The present status of rapeseed-mustard crops as the third most important source of edible oils is attributable to the success of plant breeders and associate researchers in developing high yielding varieties with improved quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the need to maximize the production gains and quality at lower economic costis greater than ever before. "Breeding Oilseed Brassicas" was thus conceived to review the past accomplishments in order to identify research gaps and suggest ways and means to meet the challenge of sustainable productivity upgradation. Theoretical and applied aspects ofbreeding, genetics, cytogenetics, crop physiology, and biotechnology are covered. The emphasis is on the application of theoretical knowledge to the solution of problems that confront the Brassica breeders.

Oilseed brassicas are among the largest traded agricultural commodities and are grown in around fifty countries worldwide. Utilised for both consumption and bioenergy use, demand is increasing and this book covers the entire gamut of oilseed brassicas. Beginning with an introduction and then organised into two sections, it reviews genetics and genomics (including breeding, heterosis and selection methods) and stress management and important pathogens, to provide a complete overview of brassica oilseeds.

This book is the first comprehensive compilation of deliberations on elucidation and augmentation of the genome of Brassica juncea, one of the leading oilseed crops of the world, popularly called as brown mustard, Indian mustard, Chinese mustard, or Oriental mustard. It includes discussions on genepools; genetic diversity and its characterization; classical genetic and traditional breeding; basics and application of heteroploidy; techniques and applications of introgressive hybridization; in vitro culture for micro-propagation, somatic mutation, somatic embryogenesis, and somatic hybridization; genetic engineering including genetic transformation and gene silencing; and molecular genetic mapping and mapping of genes and comprehensive delineations on genome sequencing and comparative genomics; resequencing for elucidation of origin and diversity; large-scale genome analysis; plastid genome sequence; transcriptomics; metabolomics; proteomics; evolutionary genomics; role of regulatory genes in development and adaptation and their utilization in trait improvement; precise breeding for yield, quality, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses; and prospects of genome editing.

Biotic stresses cause yield loss of 31-42% in crops in addition to 6-20% during post-harvest stage. Understanding interaction of crop plants to the biotic stresses caused by insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, etc. is important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in oilseed crops is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition. energy and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing have facilitated precise information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The eight chapters each dedicated to an oilseed crop in this volume elucidate on different types of biotic stress agents and their effects on and interaction with the crop plants; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress resistant varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying biotic stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different emerging genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery and gene pyramiding for developing resistant crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields; and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating disease and insect resistant crops.

This book presents deliberations on molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants to the abiotic stresses caused by heat, cold, drought, flooding, submergence, salinity, acidity, etc., important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in oilseed crops is imperative for addressing FHNEE (food, health, nutrition, energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has provided precise information regarding the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to abiotic stresses. The eight chapters each dedicated to a oilseed crop in this volume elucidate on different types of abiotic stresses and their effects on and interaction with the crop; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to abiotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing abiotic stress-resistant crop varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields, and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating abiotic stress-resistant crops.