Editorial: Plant genotyping: from traditional markers to modern technologies

Unlike external plant traits, the naked human eye cannot distinguish the genotypes that comprise the underlying genetic material responsible for these phenotypic traits. To make genotypes accessible for research and further understanding and use in plant breeding and related topics, various genotyping methods have become available. Plant genotyping began with quite complex methods based on the direct hybridization of DNA fragments using labelled probes to identify specific genes, which required large quantities of target DNA (as in the case of Restriction fragment length polymorphism, or RFLP). After some years, they evolved into a large series of relatively simpler and cheaper PCR-based methods. These latter reached a peak with very polymorphic and straightforward markers, like microsatellites or SSR (Simple sequence repeats), which were then followed by DNA sequencing and fragment analysis, PCR and qPCR, allele-specific molecular probes and primers, and today’s modern and advanced microchip-DNA technology involving hundreds to thousands of simultaneous reactions.

The current status of our knowledge and progress in plant genotyping was updated in this Research Topic, where we have detailed the available methods and technologies used to target various genes of interest in different plant species...