THE ‘-OMICS’TECHNOLOGIES AND CROP IMPROVEMENT

R.C. Setia and Neelam Setia

Department of Botany

Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, India

email: rc_setia@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT
In view of ever-growing population and decreasing natural resources, there is need to enhancefood production that can possibly be
achieved by improving upon qualitative and quantitativetraits of crop plants by adopting new analytical tools and technologies. During
the last decadeor so rapid progress has been made in plant biology, especially with the introduction of highthroughput ‘omics’
technologies. The three main omics technologies – genomics, proteomicsand metabolomics involve quantification and characterization
of genome, proteome andmetabolome, respectively, with extremely rapid, miniaturized and automated methods. Thesetechnologies are
aimed at unraveling the overall expression of genes, proteins and metabolitesin a functionally relevant context, and provide insights into
the molecular basis of variousfundamental processes involved in growth and development of plants and their environment.Advances in
plant genomics research have opened up new perspectives and opportunitiesfor improving crop plants and their productivity. The
development of sequencing techniquesand availability of genomes’ information on model organisms, Arabidopsis thaliana, rice,etc.,
havegreatly influenced the disciplines of plant and crop sciences. Gene discovery andgene expression profiling technologies are
creating an unprecedented opportunity for plantbreeders who can now apply molecular markers to assess and enhance diversity in
theirgermplasm collections, to introgress valuable traits from new sources and identify genesthat control key traits. The genomics
technologies have been found useful in decipheringthe multigenicity of biotic and abiotic plant stress responses through genome
sequences,stress specific cell and tissue transcript collections, transcript, protein and metabolite profilesand their dynamic changes,
protein interactions and mutant screens. As a consequence ofthe use of high throughput omics methods a vast amount of raw data is
generated which isstored, processed and analyzed with the help of bioinformatics tools. This review providesan introduction to the three
core omics technologies, relevant methodologies and applications with emphasis on crop improvement stratergies.