Molecular-Assisted Breeding of Cadmium Pollution-Safe Cultivars

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 71; no. 45; pp. 16919 - 16938
• Main Authors: Ni, Wen-Juan, Mubeen, Samavia, Leng, Xiao-Min, He, Chuntao, Yang, Zhongyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 03.11.2023
• Subjects: agricultural soils; bioinformatics; biomarkers; cadmium; cultivars; food chain; food chemistry; food safety; genetically modified organisms; genome; genome-wide association study; marker-assisted selection; transcriptome; food safety; molecular-assisted breeding; cadmium; Cd-PSCs
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c04967

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in edible agricultural products, especially in crops intended for consumption, has raised worldwide concerns regarding food safety. Breeding of Cd pollution-safe cultivars (Cd-PSCs) is an effective solution to preventing the entry of Cd into the food chain from contaminated agricultural soil. Molecular-assisted breeding methods, based on molecular mechanisms for cultivar-dependent Cd accumulation and bioinformatic tools, have been developed to accelerate and facilitate the breeding of Cd-PSCs. This review summarizes the recent progress in the research of the low Cd accumulation traits of Cd-PSCs in different crops. Furthermore, the application of molecular-assisted breeding methods, including transgenic approaches, genome editing, marker-assisted selection, whole genome-wide association analysis, and transcriptome, has been highlighted to outline the breeding of Cd-PSCs by identifying critical genes and molecular biomarkers. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the development of Cd-PSCs and the potential future for breeding Cd-PSC using modern molecular technologies.