Molecular Markers in Plants: Concepts and Applications

Genetic markers are one of the advances which have occured in the genomics era. Among genetic markers, molecular markers mainly because of their abundance, are the most widely used them. Development of molecular markers has greatly altered genetics and plant breeding. Genetic markers indicate the genetic differences between different organs or species. Some studies which were conducted during the last decade of the 20th century reported numerous DNA markers that have been utilized in plant breeding programs. Apart from the application of molecular markers in the construction of linkage maps, they have numerous applications in plant breeding such as assessing the genetic variations within cultivars and germplasms. The most interesting application of molecular markers is markerassisted selection (MAS). Suitable DNA markers should be polymorphic in the DNA level and can be expressed in all tissues, organs, and various developmental stages. Compared with traditional breeding programs, molecular markers can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of breeding programs. In this study, the most distinctive applications of molecular markers in the breeding studies are described.