Abstract: Gene discovery is the basis of molecular breeding in crops. The progress of gene discovery study of major crops such as rice, wheat, maize, soybean, cotton and oilseed rape in China during the past ten years was analyzed and reviewed in this paper. Gene discovery of crops in China has also made a series of breakthroughs: (1) A number of distinctive gene discovery materials were created, such as core germplasm based on crop genetic diversity, genetic population based on excellent genetic resources, mutants derived from artificial mutation, and so on. (2) Technology and methods of gene discovery were developed, especially the integration of various gene discovery technologies and improvement of biometric algorithm of gene/QTLs, and therefore the efficiency of gene discovery was improved. (3) Mapping markers and genes related to agronomic traits of crops has become a common method for genetic studies. A number of genes/QTLs associated with disease resistance, stress tolerance, quality, nutrient efficiency and yield have been mapped, of which more than 500 genes have been fine mapping. (4) Gene cloning and functional study in crops especially in rice become more and more important in the world. More than 300 genes have been cloned in the main crops, among which more than 70 genes have been functional validated in crops. With the development of genome sequence technology, gene discovery of crops become more and more efficient, large-scale and practical. However, the quality and quantity of crop gene discovery is still far from meeting the needs of molecular breeding of crops and the overall level of gene discovery has still fallen behind developed countries in the world. The development of gene discovery in different crops is uneven, the number of genes discovered is relatively limited and discovered genes with great value is still scare. Focused on the problems of gene discovery in China and the challenges of biotechnology companies in the worldwide, the strategy of crops gene discovery in China was proposed in this paper, including improvement of the efficiency of gene discovery, enhancement of gene cloning and the value of important genes, and the orientation of the development needs of biotechnology industry.

Key words: Crops, Gene, QTLs, Mapping, Cloning, Discovery, Function