TY - EJOU AU - Ahmad, Riaz AU - Anjum, Muhammad Akbar AU - Naz, Safina AU - Balal, Rashad Mukhtar TI - Applications of Molecular Markers in Fruit Crops for Breeding Programs—A Review T2 - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany PY - 2021 VL - 90 IS - 1 SN - 1851-5657 AB - Selection and use of molecular markers for evaluation of DNA polymorphism in plants are couple of the most important approaches in the field of molecular genetics. The assessment of genetic diversity using morphological markers is not sufficient due to little differentiating traits among the species, genera or their individuals. Morphological markers are not only highly influenced by environmental factors but skilled assessment is also prerequisite to find the variations in plant genetic resources. Therefore, molecular markers are considered as efficient tools for detailed DNA based characterization of fruit crops. Molecular markers provide new directions to the efforts of plant breeders particularly in genetic variability, gene tags, gene localization, taxonomy, genetic diversity, phylogenetic analysis and also play an important role to decrease the time required for development of new and excellent cultivars. The success of molecular markers technology in genetic improvement programs depends on the close relationship among the plant breeders, biotechnologists, skilled manpower and good financial support. The present review describes application and success of molecular markers technology used for genetic improvement in different fruit crops. KW - DNA fingerprinting; genetic diversity; genetic improvement programs; germplasm characterization; marker assisted selection DO - 10.32604/phyton.2020.011680