Functional Genomics Approach Towards Dissecting Out Abiotic Stress Tolerance Trait in Plants

Abstract

Plant functional genomics has revolutionized not only the methodologies for identification and elucidation of key genes’ function but also in designing strategies for improving tolerance towards abiotic stresses. Leveraging various approaches has demonstrated the robustness and versatility in their application to study gene/genome function and engineering abiotic stress tolerance in plants. With the emergence of novel high throughput technologies in this area, functional genomics can contribute immensely in understanding the gene regulatory networks operating under stress, thereby benefiting crop improvement programs. This chapter provides recent findings in the field of functional genomics, thus offering several efficacious methodologies such as next generation sequencing, genome-wide hybridization, gene-inactivation and genome-editing-based strategies in addition to metabolite analysis for discovery as well as validation of the candidate genes. Further, methodologies such as gene expression microarrays, insertional mutagenesis, map-based cloning and various genomic-assisted methods are evaluated critically and discussed in the light of integration of the information obtained through functional genomics with practical application in crop breeding.