An Application of Molecular Tools in Plant Genetic Diversity Conservation

Abstract

The conservation and use of plant genetic diversity are essential to the continued maintenance and improvement of agricultural and forestry production and thus, to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The dramatic advances in molecular genetics over the last decade years have provided workers involved in the conservation of plant genetic diversity with a range of new techniques. Molecular tools, such as molecular markers and other genomic applications, have been highly successful in characterizing existing genetic variation within species, which generates new genetic diversity that often extends beyond species boundaries. The objectives of this article are to review the molecular basis on plant genetic diversity conservation and summarize the continuously rising and application of molecular tool. Then, we look forward and consider the significant of application of molecular tools in plant genetic diversity conservation.