Question

Germplasm characterisation involves

• A. Growing plants in fields and testing them under different environmental conditions
• B. Biochemical and molecular characterisation
• C. Checking plants for disease resistance
• D. Breeding of plants

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B), (C)

The correct options are
A Growing plants in fields and testing them under different environmental conditions
B Biochemical and molecular characterisation
C Checking plants for disease resistance

Characterisation is the description of a plant's germplasm. Characterisation of germplasm is essential to provide information on the traits of accessions assuring the maximum utilisation of the germplasm collection to the final users. It starts with growing the accessions in fields under suitable conditions and under protection. They are then tested under various stressful environmental conditions such as drought, salinity, pathogens, etc. to determine if they possess these resistance traits. Apart from this field characterisation, biochemical characterisation and molecular characterization is also carried out in the laboratories. That is, we record the information on the type of proteins or the antioxidants that are produced by the plant. Thus, through intensive field and laboratory screening, we identify a wide range of sources with desirable traits.