Role of molecular marker in the genetic improvement of the medicinal and aromatic plants

Abstract

Several molecular markers have been developed for breeding major crops owing to their significance, ease, and suitability. Out of these DNA markers are frequently used ones; therefore, in this chapter, we describe the DNA markers to map major genes with regard to their principle, applicability, and methods. The two major classes of DNA markers are based on (i) DNA hybridization, e.g., restriction fragment polymorphism, DNA chips, etc.,. and (ii) polymerase chain reaction (PCR), e.g., SSR, RAPD, AFLP, and SNP. Developing trait-linked markers involves the segregation of populations demonstrating target traits followed by reliable phenotyping methods. With the help of these techniques, trait-linked markers may be used in two situations: (i) in the absence of any biological information and (ii) with available information about the trait.