Role of biotechnological tools for genetic improvement in horticultural crops-A review

There is need to integrate the biotechnology with classical breeding as an aid to molecular marker assisted selection of potential parents, germplasm conservation and micropropagation, reduction of the duration of breeding programme and early production of homozygous lines by making use of tissue culture technique which also creates the new genetic variation for achieving useful varieties. It widens the area of hybridization through embryo rescue, culture and somatic hybridization. The protoplast fusion not only expands the possibility for increasing genetic divergence but also assists in inducing male sterility and self incompatibility for controlling pollination and production of hybrids. Transgenic plants have been developed by recombinant DNA techniques for resistance to diseases, insect pests, drought, salinity, herbicide, nutritional quality and other desirable traits i.e altered flavor and colour of produce and regulation of flowering, ripening and plant architecture etc. This review describes overview of the opportunities extended by the integration of plant biotechnology into improvement efforts mostly for horticultural crops.