Strategies to assess genetic diversity for crop breeding

Manipulation of genetic diversity is significant for developing new varieties in crop breeding programs. The success of elite varieties in the last decade may be narrowing genetic diversity among original populations down to an ideotype genome under human demands. However, it is unclear how genetic diversity is shaped to maximize the genetic potential for human demands. Understanding of genomic changes during crop breeding programs for the establishment of elite varieties will drive genetic diversity for the development of new varieties to meet future demands. We will be more concerned on genetic diversity. Now, we can see genetic diversity among plant materials using the methods using next generation sequencing. Here, we propose one strategy, which is common over crop species; visualization of genetic diversity for ideal phenotype (VIP). VIP can be applied in common for various crop species with ploidy level, pollination habit, genome size, and the history of their breeding programs. VIP would accelerate the development of new elite varieties to meet future challenges from the world's increasing population, global climate change, and sustainability in agriculture.