Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Plant breeders aim to increase provitamin A carotenoids in cassava (Manihot esculenta) storage roots to help combat vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, but a negative genetic correlation between total carotenoid and dry matter contents hinders progress. While genetic linkage between a major-...

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Autores principales: Villwock, S.S., Parkes, E., Mbanjo, E., Rabbi, I.Y., Jannink, J
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177098
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author Villwock, S.S.
Parkes, E.
Mbanjo, E.
Rabbi, I.Y.
Jannink, J
author_browse Jannink, J
Mbanjo, E.
Parkes, E.
Rabbi, I.Y.
Villwock, S.S.
author_facet Villwock, S.S.
Parkes, E.
Mbanjo, E.
Rabbi, I.Y.
Jannink, J
author_sort Villwock, S.S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Plant breeders aim to increase provitamin A carotenoids in cassava (Manihot esculenta) storage roots to help combat vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, but a negative genetic correlation between total carotenoid and dry matter contents hinders progress. While genetic linkage between a major-effect variant in the phytoene synthase 2 (PSY2) gene and nearby candidate gene(s) has been thought to drive this correlation, molecular evidence suggests there may be a metabolic relationship between total carotenoid and dry matter, implying genome-wide pleiotropic effects. Bivariate genome-wide associations were used to examine the genetic architecture of the negative covariance between traits and test for pleiotropy. A population of 378 accessions in the yellow-fleshed cassava breeding program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria was genotyped with DArTseqLD and phenotyped in field trials over 10 yr across three locations in Nigeria. Mixed linear models controlling for the previously identified PSY2 causal variant were used to identify multiple new pleiotropic loci. Among 17 jointly associated loci at a relaxed significance threshold, most (11 of 17) affected total carotenoid and dry matter in opposite directions, although this pattern did not reach statistical significance in a binomial test. Even after accounting for these 17 loci as covariates, significantly negative polygenic covariance between total carotenoid and dry matter remained. These findings support the hypothesis that widespread mediated pleiotropy rather than genetic linkage drives the negative genetic correlation between total carotenoid and dry matter in cassava and demonstrate a new application of multivariate genome-wide association study for interrogating the genetic architecture of correlated traits.
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spelling CGSpace1770982025-11-11T10:04:36Z Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta) Villwock, S.S. Parkes, E. Mbanjo, E. Rabbi, I.Y. Jannink, J genetic linkage pleiotropy genome-wide association studies biofortification Plant breeders aim to increase provitamin A carotenoids in cassava (Manihot esculenta) storage roots to help combat vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, but a negative genetic correlation between total carotenoid and dry matter contents hinders progress. While genetic linkage between a major-effect variant in the phytoene synthase 2 (PSY2) gene and nearby candidate gene(s) has been thought to drive this correlation, molecular evidence suggests there may be a metabolic relationship between total carotenoid and dry matter, implying genome-wide pleiotropic effects. Bivariate genome-wide associations were used to examine the genetic architecture of the negative covariance between traits and test for pleiotropy. A population of 378 accessions in the yellow-fleshed cassava breeding program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria was genotyped with DArTseqLD and phenotyped in field trials over 10 yr across three locations in Nigeria. Mixed linear models controlling for the previously identified PSY2 causal variant were used to identify multiple new pleiotropic loci. Among 17 jointly associated loci at a relaxed significance threshold, most (11 of 17) affected total carotenoid and dry matter in opposite directions, although this pattern did not reach statistical significance in a binomial test. Even after accounting for these 17 loci as covariates, significantly negative polygenic covariance between total carotenoid and dry matter remained. These findings support the hypothesis that widespread mediated pleiotropy rather than genetic linkage drives the negative genetic correlation between total carotenoid and dry matter in cassava and demonstrate a new application of multivariate genome-wide association study for interrogating the genetic architecture of correlated traits. 2025-10-08 2025-10-15T11:16:26Z 2025-10-15T11:16:26Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177098 en Open Access application/pdf Oxford University Press Villwock, S.S., Parkes, E.Y., Mbanjo, E.G.N., Rabbi, I.Y., & Jannink, J.L. (2025). Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta). Genetics, 321(2): iyaf162, 1-16.
spellingShingle genetic linkage
pleiotropy
genome-wide association studies
biofortification
Villwock, S.S.
Parkes, E.
Mbanjo, E.
Rabbi, I.Y.
Jannink, J
Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title_full Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title_fullStr Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title_full_unstemmed Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title_short Mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava (Manihot esculenta)
title_sort mediated pleiotropy drives the negative correlation of total carotenoid and dry matter contents in cassava manihot esculenta
topic genetic linkage
pleiotropy
genome-wide association studies
biofortification
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177098
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