Tocopherol (vitamin E) is considered an important vitamin carrying antioxidant properties. It plays a vital role in maintaining the quality and stability of oil in Brassica species. Molecular mechanisms of tocopherol content have been studied in Brassicas; however, it is untapped in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). In the experiment, the expression profile and sequence variation of the candidate gene VTE4 controlling alpha-tocopherol content (ATC) were studied between two diverse parents (RLC-3 and NPJ-203) of B. juncea. The VTE4 gene expression in different tissues was almost double in NPJ-203 (high ATC genotype) as compared to RLC-3 (low ATC genotype). Moreover, sequence analysis of VTE4 in NPJ-203 and RLC-3 revealed the presence of two SNPs in the 6th exon, resulting in a shorter coding sequence (CDS) in RLC-3 (996 bp) as compared to NPJ-203 (1044 bp). Using these SNPs, an allele-specific marker was developed and validated in the F3 population.The single marker analysis revealed that the marker was significantly linked to the tocopherol content, contributing 16.46% to the total phenotypic variance. Thus, the study suggested that VTE4 is the major gene contributing to the tocopherol content, and the developed marker can be effectively used in marker-assisted breeding to improve tocopherol content in B. juncea.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important cereal crop in the world, consumed directly and indirectly. Doubled-haploid (DH) technology in maize has emerged as a promising tool for accelerating the development of completely homozygous lines in a much shorter time than conventional breeding methods. The breeding cycle is shortened and genetic gain is enhanced using the rapid doubled-haploid line generation method. Haploids are created mainly using traditional techniques, such as in vitro and in planta processes, and are then transformed into doubled haploids either naturally or through chemical means. The recent developments in understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms of doubled haploidy have opened new avenues for precise genetic improvement in a shorter time. Marker-assisted breeding can be combined with doubled haploidy to fix favorable alleles for a variety of traits in a single DH line. Additionally, the method can be employed for reverse breeding, CMS line development, and uncovering the genetic diversity found in untapped germplasm and landraces. The future of DH breeding is bright since reliable DH production techniques are available and marker-assisted technologies are being more closely incorporated.

The present study conducted an analysis of genetic variability for components traits of seed yield in 20 sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) genotypes at the Research Farm of S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner. The experiment followed a randomized block design with three replications during kharif, 2018. The main objective of this study was to assess the genetic variability among the genotypes. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant genotypic variation for all traits, indicating their potential for breeding programs. In the present study, RT - 384, RMT - 447 and RMT - 486 were identified as high yielding genotypes with per plant seed yield of 6.75, 6.7 and 6.01 g, respectively. Among the traits studied, plant height exhibited the highest variability with range of 83.13 to 108.40 cm, while test weight had the least variability having range of 3.00 - 3.51 g. Furthermore, phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) were higher than genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) for all the traits, suggesting the influence of environmental factors on them. Among them, seed yield per plant had maximum value of GCV and PCV with magnitude of 20.32 and 24.07%, respectively; while, days to maturity had minimum value of GCV and PCV i.e., 2.07 and 3.15%, respectively. Notably, traits such as capsules per plant, seeds per capsule, biological yield per plant and seed yield per plant exhibited high heritability with magnitude of 85.96%, 64.18%, 63.68%, and 71.33%, respectively. Additionally, these traits displayed substantial genetic gains, with magnitudes of 33.46%, 21.29%, 26.19%, and 35.35%, respectively. This makes them promising for selection and eventually; these traits can be efficiently explored in different breeding programs for genetic improvement of sesame.

Vegetable soybean seeds are among the most popular and nutrient-dense beans in the world due to their delicious flavor, high yield, superior nutritional value, and low trypsin content. There is significant potential for this crop that Indian farmers do not fully appreciate because of the limited germplasm range. Therefore, the current study aims to identify the diverse lines of vegetable soybean and explore the diversity produced by hybridizing grain and vegetable-type soybean varieties. Indian researchers have not yet published work describing and analysing novel vegetable soybean for microsatellite markers and morphological traits. Sixty polymorphic SSR markers and 19 morphological traits were used to evaluate the genetic diversity of 21 newly developed vegetable soybean genotypes. A total of 238 alleles, ranging from 2 to 8, were found, with a mean of 3.97 alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content varied from 0.05 to 0.85, with an average of 0.60. A variation of 0.25–0.58 with a mean of 0.43 was observed for Jaccard’s dissimilarity coefficient. The diverse genotypes identified can be helpful to understand the genetics of vegetable soybean traits and can be used in improvement programs; study also explains the utility of SSR markers for diversity analysis of vegetable soybean. Here, we identified the highly informative SSRs with PIC > 0.80 (satt199, satt165, satt167, satt191, satt183, satt202, and satt126), which apply to genetic structure analysis, mapping strategies, polymorphic marker surveys, and background selection in genomics-assisted breeding.

The response to selection in any crop improvement program depends on the degree of variance and heritability. The objective of the current study was to explain variance and heritability components in Indian mustard Brassica juncea (L). Czern & Coss to recognize promising genotypes for effective breeding. Two hundred and eighty-nine diverse accessions of Indian mustard belonging to four continents were analyzed for yield and yield-related traits (20 traits) over two seasons (2017–2018 and 2018–2019) using an alpha lattice design. The genetic variance was found to be significant (P ≤ 0.01) for the individual and under pooled analysis for all of the evaluated traits, demonstrating the presence of significant genetic variability in the diversity panel, which bids greater opportunities for utilizing these traits in future breeding programs. High heritability combined with high genetic advance as percent of mean and genotypic coefficient of variation was observed for flowering traits, plant height traits, seed size, and seed yield/plant; hence, a better genetic gain is expected upon the selection of these traits over subsequent generations. Both correlation and stepwise regression analysis indicated that the main shoot length, biological yield, total seed yield, plant height up to the first primary branch, seed size, total siliqua count, days to flowering initiation, plant height at maturity, siliquae on the main shoot, main shoot length, and siliqua length were the most significant contributory traits for seed yield/plant. Also, promising genotypes were identified among the diversity panel, which can be utilized as a donor to improve Indian mustard further. These results indicated a greater scope for improving seed yield per plant directly through a selection of genotypes having the parsimonious combination of these nine traits.

Brassica spp., commonly known as rapeseed-mustard, plays a significant role in the Indian economy by providing edible oils, vegetables, condiments and animal feed. Globally, India holds second and third position in rapeseed-mustard area under cultivation and production, respectively. However, anthropogenically accelerated climate change thwarts yield potential of rapeseed-mustard by employing abiotic (drought, flood, temperature variation and salinity) and biotic (disease and insects) stresses. Various approaches such as molecular breeding, pre-breeding, −omics and biotechnological interventions have been used to develop varieties for improved yield and oil quality, climate resilient and resistance or tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. In this context, this chapter highlighted the different cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) sources and their potential use for hybrid development. At the end, this chapter also enlisted salient achievement by the government and non-government institutes and briefly described the future perspective for improvement of rapeseed-mustard in India.