Plant Genomics

Biography

Biography: Parminder Virk

Abstract

Micronutrient malnutrition affects more than half of the world population.    Biofortification   , the delivery of   micronutrients   via micronutrient dense  crops , offers a cost effective and su stainable approach. HarvestPl us and its  partners breed  and disseminate new, more  nutritious varieties of staple food crops that provide higher amou nts of pro vitamin A, iron or zinc, the three micronutrients identified by the World Health Organization as most lacking in diets globally. Crop improvement activities focus on e xploring the available natural genetic variation. To date, HarvestPlus has established productive research networks that link national research programs in target regions of the developing world with advanced    agriculture    and nutrition research institutes around the globe with more than 100   biofortified crop   varieties released.  To accelerate breeding process state of art genomic approaches namely genetic mapping and  genome  wide association studies for the identification of candidate genes for mineral uptake and   homeostasis  a  nd functional markers associated with favorable alleles for enhanced micronutrients. Recently, with the advent of high throughput cost effective  molecular genotyping , genomic selection models are being explored to enhance breeding efficiency.  Conventional breeding  alone is not always an option in particular where there is limited genetic  variability or the target trait is altogether absent in the edible part (e.g. iron and pro vitamin A in  rice endosperm ). Under these circumstances transgenic approaches are in development. Their practical application, however, also demands visionary changes in regulatory poli cies and a broader consumer acceptance.