Chickpea is an important grain legume of the semi arid tropics and warm temperate zones, and forms one of the major components of human diet. However, a narrow genetic base of cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) has hindered the progress in realizing high yield gains in breeding programs. Furthermore, various abiotic and biotic stresses are the major bottlenecks for increasing chickpea productivity. Systematic collection and evaluation of wild species for useful traits has revealed presence of a diverse gene pool for tolerance to the biotic and abiotic stresses. Relationships among the species of genus Cicer are presented based on crossability, karyotype and molecular markers. The reproductive barriers encountered during interspecific hybridization are also examined. Recent information on genetic linkage maps, comparison of isozymes and different DNA marker systems used for diversity analysis in chickpea germplasm, tagging of genes/QTLs for qualitative and quantitative traits and progress in application of marker assisted selection and genomics in chickpea are presented.

中文翻译：

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鹰嘴豆改良：野生物种和遗传标记的作用。

鹰嘴豆是半干旱热带和温带温带地区的重要谷物豆类，是人类饮食的主要成分之一。但是，栽培鹰嘴豆（Cicer arietinum L.）的遗传基础狭窄，阻碍了在育种计划中实现高产的进展。此外，各种非生物和生物胁迫是增加鹰嘴豆生产率的主要瓶颈。系统地收集和评估野生物种的有用性状表明，存在多种多样的基因库可耐受生物和非生物胁迫。基于交叉性，核型和分子标记，给出了Cicer属之间的关系。还检查了种间杂交过程中遇到的生殖障碍。关于遗传连锁图谱的最新信息，