Recent developments in primer design for DNA polymorphism and mRNA profiling in higher plants

Primer design is a critical step in the application of PCR-based technologies in gene expression and genetic diversity analysis. As more plant genomes have been sequenced in recent years, the emphasis of primer design strategy has shifted to genome-wide and high-throughput direction. This paper summarizes recent advances in primer design for profiling of DNA polymorphism and mRNA in higher plants, as well as new primer systems developed for animals that can be adapted for plants.