Can Epigenetics Guide the Production of Better Adapted Cultivars?

As the global population continues to grow, food demand will be reaching levels which current agricultural practices cannot meet. This projected demand combined with the negative impacts of climate change on crop production calls for more careful breeding efforts to develop better adapted plants more tolerant to climate fluctuations. Fortunately, the development of molecular biology techniques like genome, transcriptome and epigenome sequencing now offer new approaches to help classical breeding meet these challenges. This review focuses on the potential of epigenetic approaches, particularly the creation of epigenetic markers (epi-markers) for guiding the selection process in breeding programs. Many studies have indeed successfully linked stable epigenetic modifications to different plant traits of interest but research on the applicability of using epi-markers in breeding programs is still scarce. This review emphasises the current progress that has been made with regards to the usefulness of epi-markers in selective plant breeding programs and the gaps in knowledge that still need to be addressed. It highlights the importance of pursuing research efforts to confirm the value of epi-markers for crop development in the years to come in order to meet the agricultural challenges of the 21st century.

Automated summary

With global population growth and negative impacts of climate change on crop production, current agricultural practices cannot meet the increasing food demand. Therefore, more careful breeding efforts are needed to develop plants that are better adapted and tolerant to climate fluctuations. Fortunately, molecular biology techniques such as genome, transcriptome, and epigenome sequencing provide new approaches to assist classical breeding. This review focuses on the potential of epigenetic approaches, specifically the creation of epigenetic markers, in guiding the selection process in breeding programs.