Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)

Soils in sub-Saharan Africa are nitrogen deficient due to low fertilizer use and inadequate soil fertility management practices. This has resulted in a significant yield gap for the major staple crop maize, which is undermining nutritional security and livelihood sustainability across the region. Di...

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Autores principales: Ndlovu, Noel, Spillane, Charles, McKeown, Peter C., Cairns, Jill E., Das, Biswanath, Gowda, Manje
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126603
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author Ndlovu, Noel
Spillane, Charles
McKeown, Peter C.
Cairns, Jill E.
Das, Biswanath
Gowda, Manje
author_browse Cairns, Jill E.
Das, Biswanath
Gowda, Manje
McKeown, Peter C.
Ndlovu, Noel
Spillane, Charles
author_facet Ndlovu, Noel
Spillane, Charles
McKeown, Peter C.
Cairns, Jill E.
Das, Biswanath
Gowda, Manje
author_sort Ndlovu, Noel
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Soils in sub-Saharan Africa are nitrogen deficient due to low fertilizer use and inadequate soil fertility management practices. This has resulted in a significant yield gap for the major staple crop maize, which is undermining nutritional security and livelihood sustainability across the region. Dissecting the genetic basis of grain protein, starch and oil content under nitrogen-starved soils can increase our understanding of the governing genetic systems and improve the efficacy of future breeding schemes. An association mapping panel of 410 inbred lines and four bi-parental populations were evaluated in field trials in Kenya and South Africa under optimum and low nitrogen conditions and genotyped with 259,798 SNP markers. Genetic correlations demonstrated that these populations may be utilized to select higher performing lines under low nitrogen stress. Furthermore, genotypic, environmental and GxE variations in nitrogen-starved soils were found to be significant for oil content. Broad sense heritabilities ranged from moderate (0.18) to high (0.86). Under low nitrogen stress, GWAS identified 42 SNPs linked to grain quality traits. These significant SNPs were associated with 51 putative candidate genes. Linkage mapping identified multiple QTLs for the grain quality traits. Under low nitrogen conditions, average prediction accuracies across the studied genotypes were higher for oil content (0.78) and lower for grain yield (0.08). Our findings indicate that grain quality traits are polygenic and that using genomic selection in maize breeding can improve genetic gain. Furthermore, the identified genomic regions and SNP markers can be utilized for selection to improve maize grain quality traits.
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spelling CGSpace1266032025-11-06T13:03:24Z Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.) Ndlovu, Noel Spillane, Charles McKeown, Peter C. Cairns, Jill E. Das, Biswanath Gowda, Manje genes grain nitrogen fertilizers plants sustainable development tropical zones genetic gain maize soil genetics biotechnology Soils in sub-Saharan Africa are nitrogen deficient due to low fertilizer use and inadequate soil fertility management practices. This has resulted in a significant yield gap for the major staple crop maize, which is undermining nutritional security and livelihood sustainability across the region. Dissecting the genetic basis of grain protein, starch and oil content under nitrogen-starved soils can increase our understanding of the governing genetic systems and improve the efficacy of future breeding schemes. An association mapping panel of 410 inbred lines and four bi-parental populations were evaluated in field trials in Kenya and South Africa under optimum and low nitrogen conditions and genotyped with 259,798 SNP markers. Genetic correlations demonstrated that these populations may be utilized to select higher performing lines under low nitrogen stress. Furthermore, genotypic, environmental and GxE variations in nitrogen-starved soils were found to be significant for oil content. Broad sense heritabilities ranged from moderate (0.18) to high (0.86). Under low nitrogen stress, GWAS identified 42 SNPs linked to grain quality traits. These significant SNPs were associated with 51 putative candidate genes. Linkage mapping identified multiple QTLs for the grain quality traits. Under low nitrogen conditions, average prediction accuracies across the studied genotypes were higher for oil content (0.78) and lower for grain yield (0.08). Our findings indicate that grain quality traits are polygenic and that using genomic selection in maize breeding can improve genetic gain. Furthermore, the identified genomic regions and SNP markers can be utilized for selection to improve maize grain quality traits. 2022-12 2023-01-05T09:16:45Z 2023-01-05T09:16:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126603 en Open Access application/pdf Springer Ndlovu, N., Spillane, C., McKeown, P. C., Cairns, J. E., Das, B., & Gowda, M. (2022). Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 135(12), 4351–4370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-022-04224-7
spellingShingle genes
grain
nitrogen fertilizers
plants
sustainable development
tropical zones
genetic gain
maize
soil
genetics
biotechnology
Ndlovu, Noel
Spillane, Charles
McKeown, Peter C.
Cairns, Jill E.
Das, Biswanath
Gowda, Manje
Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title_full Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title_fullStr Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title_full_unstemmed Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title_short Genome-wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low-nitrogen stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.)
title_sort genome wide association studies of grain yield and quality traits under optimum and low nitrogen stress in tropical maize zea mays l
topic genes
grain
nitrogen fertilizers
plants
sustainable development
tropical zones
genetic gain
maize
soil
genetics
biotechnology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126603
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