Biotechnology applications to plant breeding

Abstract

In recent years gene cloning technology has led to fundamental advances in many areas of biology. One of the most exciting of these is the use of cloned fragments of chromosomal DNA as genetic markers, usually termed "RFLP mapping", with RFLP denoting Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. In this technique, which depends on natural variation in DNA base sequence, DNA is digested with a restriction enzyme. Homologous restriction fragments of DNA which differ in size, or "length", can be used as genetic markers to follow chromosome segments through genetic crosses. This new technology promises to revolutionize some areas of plant genetics and plant breeding; the present publication is intended to briefly explain RFLP analysis and some of its applications in plant breeding. A listing of current research literature is available for further reading.