Marker assisted selection (MAS)

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Considerable developments in biotechnology have led breeders of plants and animals to develop more efficient selection systems to replace traditional phenotype-based selection systems.

Marker assisted selection (MAS) is an indirect selection process where a trait of interest is selected, not based on the trait itself, but on a marker linked to it.[1][2][3][4] For example, if MAS is being used to select individuals with disease resistance, the level of disease resistance is not quantified but rather a marker allele that is linked with disease resistance is used. The assumption is that the marker used for selection associates at high frequency with the gene and/or quantitative trait locus (QTL) of interest, due to genetic linkage (close proximity, on the chromosome, of the marker locus and the disease resistance-determining locus). MAS can be very useful to efficiently select for traits that are difficult or expensive to measure, exhibit low heritability, and/or are expressed late in development. However, it is usually essential to confirm at certain points in the breeding process that the selected individuals or their progeny do in fact express the desired phenotype or trait. Source of the article published in description is Wikipedia. I am sharing their material. © by original content developers of Wikipedia.
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