Molecular genetic linkage map and its application in forage crops

Forage crops are the important basis for development of livestock industry. However, the conventional breeding cycle for forage crops is long and less efficient, which cannot meet the social and economic needs for developing new cultivars with high quality, yield, and strong stress resistance. The development and application of molecular marker technology have accelerated the construction of genetic linkage map and facilitated its application in QTL analysis, gene mapping and comparative genomic research, which accelerated the process of molecular breeding in forage crops. This paper summarized the current research advances in molecular genetic linkage map and its application in forage crops and discussed the existing problems and related suggestions.