Advances in Molecular Breeding of Pearl Millet

Abstract

Capsicum species commonly known as Chilli pepper is one of the world’s most important vegetable and spice crop. India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of chilli pepper. Despite comprising 38 species, only six species of Capsicum namely, Capsicum annuum, C. assamicum, C. baccatum, C. frutescence, C. chinense and C. pubescens are cultivated. They are used as vegetables, spices, coloring agent and folk remedies (for diseases), proving their diverse role in human’s life. Chilli pepper in mainly known for its pungency characteristics. The presence of capsaicinoids, a pungency character classifies pepper into sweet peppers and hot peppers. The molecular markers, quantitative trait loci developed by conventional breeding and classical genetic analysis have revealed number of genes for major and important traits. While, the newly developed next generation sequencing and genotyping technologies have been able to generate large scale genomic resources and to find the molecular basis of economically important traits in Capsicum genome. This chapter summarizes the advances in genomics and their applications in the form of generation of resources, comparative mapping, and identification of candidate genes for fruit trait, pungency, male sterility, disease resistance, viral resistance, nematode resistance and abiotic stress tolerance. In summary, we propose the integrated use of genomics and breeding approach in Capsicum translational research to enhance the crop productivity.