Polyploidy and its relevance in crop improvement

Abstract

Many areas of research in crop production have been geared towards crop improvement and increased yield. Crop improvement include but not restricted to; plant introduction and acclimatization, domestication, ploidy manipulation (polyploidization), recombinant DNA technology, crossing for superior selection (cultivar development), molecular genetics, etc. Polyploidy is a condition where the genome of an organism has more than the usual number of complete sets of chromosomes and the product of this phenomenon is called a Polyploid. Polyploidy occurs naturally, and can be induced chemically using antimitotic agents or physically using protoplast fusion and temperature shock. It is mostly artificially induced through a process called polyploidization. Polyploids are more advantageous in important plant attributes than the regular diploid. Relative success has been reported in the application of polyploidization for crop improvement which resulted chiefly in increased amount of beneficial secondary metabolites (phytochemicals), larger stomata and leaves,improved adaptation to stress and unfavourable conditions, to mention but a few. Therefore, it is imperative to state that polyploidy is an area of research that has been and will continually be deployed in crop improvement .