Biotechnology of Sesame-An Oil Seed Crop

Sesamum (Sesamum indicum) is an ancient oil seed crop and grown in India from antiquity. The primary aim of sesame breeding is to improve yield as well as oil content. But, both biotic and abiotic stress factors are hampering the realization of the full yield potential of sesame. While plant breeding programmes produce genetic variation, selection and mating leading to population improvement, molecular breeding techniques ranging from cell and tissue culture, vegetative propagation, genetic mapping and gene trasfer help to enhance the crop yields and sustainable productivity. Molecular techniques though unlikely to replace totally classical breeding, they can immensely increase the capabilities of breeders to solve some of the practical problems. Micropropagation and somatic embryogenesis has been achieved in sesame. But, there is an urgent need to develop molecular markers for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in this important crop plant.