Research Status and Prospect of Molecular Breeding of the Bast-fiber Crops

Protection,exploitation and application of the bast-fiber resources depends on full understanding and mastery of the gene pools of quantitative genetic variation, distribution and their evolutionary relationships. Molecular marker technique is not influenced by environmental factors and can test DNA from any growth stage, thus it has become a modern scientific research tool which can make up for the shortcomings of those quite limiting traditional methods. Currently, our knowledge about genetics of bast-fiber crop is very limited, but it is important for breeding these plants.A Highly saturated genetic linkage map would provide a solid basis for quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, positional gene cloning, comparative genomics studies and marker-assisted selection. In this article, we've given a systematic description of application of the molecular marker techniques,on genetic linkage map construction, QTL mapping and marker-assisted selection of kenaf, jute, flax, ramie, hemp and sisal.