Role of Marker Assisted Selection in Enhancing Yield and Quality Traits in Vegetable Crops
T. Shalini *
Department of Vegetable and Spices Crop, UBKV, Pundibari, West Bengal, India.
Simanta Das
Department of Biochemistry and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, India.
Sherly. J
Department of Horticulture, PAJANCOA RI Karaikal, 609603, India.
Chirag S. Radadiya
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, India.
Preetilagna Dhal
Department of Vegetable science, Faculty of Agricultural sciences, Siksha o Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Maya Bisen
Department of Horticulture, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam University Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Vegetable crops are fundamental to global food and nutritional security, contributing essential vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds to human diets. However, conventional breeding methods often fall short in meeting the rising demand for high-yielding, nutritionally superior, and climate-resilient vegetable varieties due to the complex, polygenic nature of key traits and their interactions with the environment. Marker-Assisted Selection has emerged as a powerful tool to overcome these challenges by enabling precise, early, and efficient selection of genotypes based on molecular markers linked to desirable traits. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the role of Marker-Assisted Selection in improving yield and quality traits in vegetable crops. It explores the conceptual framework of Marker-Assisted Selection, including the types of molecular markers, strategies for Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping, and marker deployment in breeding programs. The genetic basis of yield components, nutritional quality, flavour, texture, and stress resilience is discussed, highlighting how Marker-Assisted Selection enables targeted improvement of complex traits. Real-world applications are illustrated through successful case studies, such as the development of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV)-resistant tomato hybrids and biofortified carrots with elevated beta-carotene content.
Keywords: Marker-assisted selection (MAS), vegetable crop improvement, yield, quality traits, molecular breeding technologies, genomic integration