Marker-assisted selection

Marker assisted selection or marker aided selection (MAS) is an indirect selection process where a trait of interest is selected based on a marker (morphological, biochemical or DNA/RNA variation) linked to a trait of interest (e.g. productivity, disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and quality), rather than on the trait itself.[1][2][3][4][5] This process has been extensively researched and proposed for plant- and animal- breeding.[5]

For example, using MAS to select individuals with disease resistance involves identifying a marker allele that is linked with disease resistance rather than the level of disease resistance. The assumption is that the marker associates at high frequency with the gene or quantitative trait locus (QTL) of interest, due to genetic linkage (close proximity, on the chromosome, of the marker locus and the disease resistance-determining locus). MAS can be useful to select for traits that are difficult or expensive to measure, exhibit low heritability and/or are expressed late in development. At certain points in the breeding process the specimens are examined to ensure that they express the desired trait.

  1. ^ "Chemistry |". www.uoguelph.ca.
  2. ^ Ribaut, J.-M. et al., Genetic basis of physiological traits. In Application of Physiology in Wheat Breeding, CIMMYT, Mexico, 2001.
  3. ^ Ribaut, J.-M. and Hoisington, D. A., Marker assisted selection: new tools and strategies. Trends in Plant Science, 1998, 3, 236–239.
  4. ^ Rosyara, U.R. 2006. REQUIREMENT OF ROBUST MOLECULAR MARKER TECHNOLOGY FOR PLANT BREEDING APPLICATIONS. Journal of Plant Breeding Group 1: 67 – 72. click to download
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Dekkers-Hospital-2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).