Molecular Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology in Crop Plant Breeding

A diverse set of molecular markers techniques have been developed over the last almost 40 years and used with success for breeding a number of major crops. These have been narrowed down to a few preferred DNA based marker types, and emphasis is now on adapting the technologies to a wide range of crop plants and trees. In this Special Issue, the strength of molecular breeding is revealed through research and review papers that use a combination of molecular markers with other classic breeding techniques to obtain quality improvement of the crop. The constant improvement and maintenance of quality by breeding is crucial and challenged by a changing climate and molecular markers can support the direct introgression of traits into elite breeding lines. All the papers in this Special Issue “Molecular genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology in Crop Plant Breeding” have attracted significant attention, as can be witnessed by the graphs for each paper on the Journal’s homepage. It is the hope that it will encourage others to use these tools in developing an even wider range of crop plants and trees.