Quantum leap in the light of molecular elucidation of garlic genome.

Garlic, a popular vegetable cum condiment is known widely for its health benefits, pharmacological properties and in curing several pathological conditions. This compelling horticultural bulb crop is propagated asexually from individual bulbils or cloves. It is an obligate apomict that lost its fertility and blooming potential long ago and probable reason for evolution from fertility to sterility to greater contiguity of human selection to asexual propagules as they are used in culinary as and when required. The crop is likely to be sterile owing to nutritional competition between topsets, pollen degeneration, chromosomal deletion, irregular chromosomal pairing and abnormal meiosis during gametogenesis and thus curbing genetic variation is needed utmost for its improvement. With asexual reproduction, molecular studies are challenging due to its expected and complex genome. Alongside classical molecular markers like RAPDs, AFLPs, SRAPs, SSRs, and isozymes; recent high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approaches like DArTseq has allowed characterization, mapping, whole-genome profiling, DNA fingerprinting among others in garlic. However, in recent years, biotechnological tools, genetic transformation via biolistic or Agrobacterium tumefaciens, polyploidization or chromosomal doubling have emerged as a potent breeding tool in enabling the improvement of vegetatively propagated plants such as garlic. In recent times biological responses of garlic and its compounds have been studied using epigenomics, proteomics and transcriptomics by researchers in preclinical studies instigating the biological effects of garlic and such gene expression revealed many early mechanistic events which may clinically underlie important health benefits pertaining to garlic intake. This review thus encompasses efforts achieved till present date towards elucidation of garlic genome with regard to molecular, biotechnological analysis and gene expression in terms of in vitro and in vivo studies.