The Power of Integrative Approaches to Develop Markers for Maize Molecular Breeding

Recent advances in genomics and bioinformatics now offer real opportunities for dissecting complex traits into their component sub-traits, which will simplify the process of developing the tools necessary to

Recent advances in genomics and bioinformatics now offer real opportunities for dissecting complex Waits into their component sub-traits, which will simplify the process of developing the tools necessary to manipulate the underlying genes （Varshney et al., 2005）. The value of molecular markers as a complement to phenotyping under several breeding scenarios is largely unquestioned, as demonstrated by the increasing number of successful studies published （Varshney et al., 2006）. However most experiments have targeted crop improvement for disease resistance, morphological waits or quality waits （Franca et al., 2005） and there is still some way to go before markers can be used routinely and ubiquitously to breed for complex waits, such as tolerance to abiotic stress （Ribaut and Ragot, 2007）. The combination of genetic mapping and association studies has considerable potential to generate a catalogue of genetic variation, and thereby present novel opportunities for selection based on genome-wide scans （Biswas and Akey, 2006）. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the outcome of gene interactions, particularly where significant gene networks are involved,