Advances of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Technologies to Enhance the Biofortifications in Crops

The modern-day agriculture is feeding the global population but not providing adequate essential nutrients which are known as “Hidden Hunger.” Deficiency of essential nutrients in daily diet is the cause of extensive health problems in developing countries, biofortification is the process intended to improve the nutrition level in all crops. The improvement of crop cultivars with increased level of nutrients in their edible parts is necessary to cope with nutrient deficiencies. Biofortification is the process of crafting nutritionally dense crops containing vitamins, minerals, and crucial macro-micronutrients through conventional plant-breeding methods, agronomic practices, genetic engineering, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Rapid advancements in omics-NGS technologies have contributed immensely to the improvement of crop plants. Here, we summarized recent advances in NGS technologies that have contributed toward the progress in crop biofortification. As the cost of sequencing has declined, breeders started employing cutting-edge NGS technologies to sequence large plant populations to identify the genetic basis of agriculturally important traits and to predict the breeding value of individuals. Modern molecular breeding techniques like genome-wide association study (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS) are increasing the efficiency of breeding to enhance the rate of nutritionally rich cultivars of food crops in the most cost-efficient way. The biofortification of crops opens a new arena to address the malnutrition challenge that the world is facing.