Exploring Genetic Resources for Identification of Potential Novel Genes for Crop Improvement

Abstract

The emerging problem of variation in climate change with diverse environmental stress conditions has made the present situation critical for the production of food. The emitted harmful substances cause variation in the proportion of atmospheric CO2 level, which affects the level of diversity in the biosphere. The unchecked emission of polluted harmful gases to the ecosystem also changes the proportion of atmospheric CO2 level, which is a threat to our domesticated crop species by emergence of the growth of new level of invasive weeds. Over the last three decades, a significant progress has been seen in crop genetic improvement programmes with increased tolerance/resistance to environmental stresses to enhance the crop yield by effort of the plant breeders. On the other hand, the crop wild relatives (CWRs) represent the exploring genetic resources for identification of potential novel genes for crop improvement because it has been grown in their own respective environments for many years and stored higher level of genetic diversity. In this chapter, we stress the importance of explored genetic resources in the form of CWRs for identification of potential novel genes involved in biotic and abiotic stress resistance and overall yield performance.