Getting the 'MOST' out of crop improvement

Songlin Hu; Thomas Lübberstedt

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2015.03.002

Getting the 'MOST' out of crop improvement

Trends Plant Sci. 2015 Jun;20(6):372-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2015.03.002. Epub 2015 Apr 17.

Authors

Songlin Hu¹, Thomas Lübberstedt²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, 100 Osborn Drive, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
² Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, 100 Osborn Drive, Ames, IA 50011, USA. Electronic address: thomasl@iastate.edu.

PMID: 25899781
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2015.03.002

Abstract

Unraveling the function of genes affecting agronomic traits is accelerating due to progress in DNA sequencing and other high-throughput genomic approaches. Characterized genes can be exploited by plant breeders by using either marker-aided selection (MAS) or transgenic procedures. Here, we propose a third 'outlet', 'molecular strengthening' (MOST), as alternative option for exploiting detailed molecular understanding of trait expression, which is comparable to the pharmaceutical treatment of human diseases. MOST treatments can be used to enhance yield stability. Alternatively, they can be used to control traits temporally, such as flowering time to facilitate crosses for plant breeders. We also discuss the essence for developing MOST treatments, their prospects, and limitations.

Keywords: crop improvement; molecular strengthening.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Crops, Agricultural / genetics*
Crops, Agricultural / growth & development*
Genomics / methods*
Quantitative Trait, Heritable