Impact of Bioinformatics on Plant Science Research and Crop Improvement

Abstract

Bioinformatics plays an indispensable role and has a number of applications in today’s plant and crop science. Powerful tools and methods are required to organize the huge data and extend our ability to analyse complex biological systems. At the same time, many researchers in plant biology are unacquainted with available bioinformatics methods, tools and databases, which could lead to unexploited opportunities or misinterpretation of the information. Omics has allowed us to come to terms with vast amounts of biological data being generated by sequencing projects and has made considerable progress in plant breeding by providing scientists and breeders access to genomic information. In plant biology, these omics tools (proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics) are helpful in improving the quality of traditional medicinal plants; improving crop nutrition quality, single gene analysis, sequence similarity, modelling of protein, crop breeding and insect resistance; improving nutritional quality; and development of drought-resistant varieties. Thus, plant genomics has assisted in the efficient exploitation of plants as biological resources. Further, the progress made in molecular plant breeding, genetics, genomic selection and genome editing has contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of molecular markers, provided deeper insights into the diversity available for crops and greatly complemented breeding stratagems. In this chapter, we describe the main bioinformatics approaches in the area of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for its impact on crop improvement and breeding programmes. We also cover some molecular and genetic marker databases, which find its application in breeding programmes. Finally, we explore a few emerging research topics in this innovative field of research.