The current knowledge of black pepper breeding in Malaysia for future crop improvement

This paper reviews prior breeding work by black pepper breeders and highlights the significance of molecular breeding in enhancing black pepper generation. It is critical to develop elite varieties with desired characteristics in order to assure sustainable long-term production of black pepper. As molecular biology and plant breeding progress, two important approaches, marker-assisted selection (MAS) and gene editing are gaining prominence. In the disciplines of germplasm evaluation, genetic mapping, map-based gene identification, and marker-assisted plant breeding in black pepper and related species, molecular markers have been widely studied. With the advancement of sequencing technology, cutting-edge genome editing tools, especially CRISPR/Cas technology, are becoming available. Genome editing has the potential to transform the plant genome in a more precise, efficient, and time-efficient manner. These plant genome engineering approaches have been widely employed to respond to rapidly changing environmental circumstances when varietal improvement is required in a shorter timeframe. With the availability of genomic resources in black pepper, new molecular technologies made crop development more viable. In this review, we summarised the progress in black pepper breeding and the application of molecular breeding technologies in black pepper for crop sustainability.