Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have developed into a powerful and ubiquitous tool for the investigation of complex traits. In large part, this was fueled by advances in genomic technology, enabling us to examine genome‐wide genetic variants across diverse genetic materials. The development of the mixed model framework for GWAS dramatically reduced the number of false positives compared with naïve methods. Building on this foundation, many methods have since been developed to increase computational speed or improve statistical power in GWAS. These methods have allowed the detection of genomic variants associated with either traditional agronomic phenotypes or biochemical and molecular phenotypes. In turn, these associations enable applications in gene cloning and in accelerated crop breeding through marker assisted selection or genetic engineering. Current topics of investigation include rare‐variant analysis, synthetic associations, optimizing the choice of GWAS model, and utilizing GWAS results to advance knowledge of biological processes. Ongoing research in these areas will facilitate further advances in GWAS methods and their applications.

中文翻译：

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植物全基因组关联研究的现状与前景

全基因组关联研究（GWAS）已发展成为一种强大且普遍存在的工具，用于研究复杂性状。在很大程度上，这得益于基因组技术的进步，这使我们能够研究跨越各种遗传物质的全基因组遗传变异。与单纯方法相比，GWAS混合模型框架的开发大大减少了误报的数量。在此基础上，现已开发出许多方法来提高GWAS中的计算速度或提高统计能力。这些方法允许检测与传统农学表型或生化和分子表型相关的基因组变体。反过来，这些关联使得可以通过标记辅助选择或基因工程在基因克隆和加速作物育种中应用。当前的研究主题包括稀有变量分析，合成关联，优化GWAS模型的选择以及利用GWAS结果来提高生物学过程的知识。这些领域的持续研究将促进GWAS方法及其应用的进一步发展。