Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(8): 1631-1643 1631 Review Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.808.193 Advances in Breeding of Chrysanthemum: A Review Sangeeta Kumari*, S.R. Dhiman and Y.C. Gupta Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan - 173 230, Himachal Pradesh, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is one among the most versatile and internationally recognized floriculture crop. Maximum diversity of chrysanthemum is scattered in eastern parts of the world hence also recognized as ‗Queen of East‘, Glory of East‘ or ‗Autumn Queen‘. Fukai et al., (1995) suggested that Florists‘ Chrysanthemums (2n=54) originated by crossing and doubling between Chrysanthemum zawadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitamura (2n=18) and Chrysanthemum indicum var. Procumbense (Lour.) Kitamura (2n=36). The cluster analysis of ISSR-PCR for 86 plants of chrysanthemum revealed that Chrysanthemum vestitum is closest to medicinal and large- flowered chrysanthemum in genetic distance and the evolution of chrysanthemum may be mainly in one way that is from wild chrysanthemum to medicinal chrysanthemum to ornamental chrysanthemum (Zhou, 2009). The genus chrysanthemum comprises of 100 to 200 species which varies in their morphological attributes like growing habit, form and colour. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 08 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Chrysanthemum is among the most interesting and possibly the oldest one among the ornamental plants possessing wide genetic diversity. In recent years, researchers have used various conventional and non-conventional breeding techniques to understand the classification studies, correlation and association both at morphological and molecular level, with the wild relatives for introducing various ornamental traits from wild types to cultivated ones. Major traits which are targeted through biotechnological approaches includes development of novel flower colours, altered flower and plant morphology, insect-pest and disease resistance and enhanced post-harvest attributes. Development of varieties with novel traits provide marketing opportunities for retailers and cautious selection can increase both productivity as well as improving the quality of the products. So an attempt was made to condense the available literature that has been published on chrysanthemum breeding with more emphasis on improvement in floriculture point of view. In recent years, important strides were made in molecular breeding, particularly targeting the unusual colours through transgenics and understanding of flower genetics and flowering regulation. Keywords Conventional breeding, Biotechnology, Agronomic traits, Transformation Accepted: 12 July 2019 Available Online: 10 August 2019 Article Info