Quantitative trait loci from identification to exploitation for crop improvement

Advancement in the field of genetics and genomics after the discovery of Mendel’s laws of inheritance has led to map the genes controlling qualitative and quantitative traits in crop plant species. Mapping of genomic regions controlling the variation of quantitatively inherited traits has become routine after the advent of different types of molecular markers. Recently, the next generation sequencing methods have accelerated the research on QTL analysis. These efforts have led to the identification of more closely linked molecular markers with gene/QTLs and also identified markers even within gene/QTL controlling the trait of interest. Efforts have also been made towards cloning gene/QTLs or identification of potential candidate genes responsible for a trait. Further new concepts like crop QTLome and QTL prioritization have accelerated precise application of QTLs for genetic improvement of complex traits. In the past years, efforts have also been made in exploitation of a number of QTL for improving grain yield or other agronomic traits in various crops through markers assisted selection leading to cultivation of these improved varieties at farmers’ field. In present article, we reviewed QTLs from their identification to exploitation in plant breeding programs and also reviewed that how improved cultivars developed through introgression of QTLs have improved the yield productivity in many crops.