Association mapping in crop plants: opportunities and challenges.

The research area of association mapping (AM) is currently receiving major attention for genetic studies of quantitative traits in all major crops. However, the level of success and utility of AM achieved for crop improvement is not comparable to that in the area of human health care for diagnosis of complex human diseases. These AM studies in plants, as in humans, became possible due to the availability of DNA-based molecular markers and a variety of sophisticated statistical tools that are evolving on a regular basis. In this chapter, we first briefly review the significance of a variety of populations that are used in AM studies, then briefly describe the molecular markers and high-throughput genotyping strategies, and finally describe the approaches used for AM studies. The major part of the chapter is, however, devoted to analysis of reasons why the results of AM have been underutilized in plant breeding. We also examine the opportunities available and challenges faced while using AM for crop improvement programs. This includes a detailed discussion of the issues that have plagued AM studies, and the solutions that have become available to deal with these issues, so that in future, the results of AM studies may prove increasingly fruitful for crop improvement programs.