Marker-assisted pyramiding of lycopene-ε-cyclase, β-carotene hydroxylase1 and opaque2 genes for development of biofortified maize hybrids

Malnutrition affects growth and development in humans and causes socio-economic losses. Normal maize is deficient in essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan; and vitamin-A. Crop biofortification is a sustainable and economical approach to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. We combined favorable alleles of crtRB1 and lcyE genes into opaque2 ( o2 )-based four inbreds viz . QLM11, QLM12, QLM13, and QLM14 using marker-assisted backcross breeding. These are parents of quality protein maize versions of two elite hybrids viz . Buland and PMH1, grown in India. Gene-based SSRs for o2 and InDel markers for crtRB1 and lcyE were successfully employed for foreground selection in BC 1 F 1 , BC 2 F 1 , and BC 2 F 2 generations. The recurrent parent genome recovery ranged from 88.9 to 96.0% among introgressed progenies. Kernels of pyramided lines possessed a high concentration of proA (7.14–9.63 ppm), compared to 1.05 to 1.41 ppm in the recurrent parents, while lysine and tryptophan ranged from 0.28–0.44% and 0.07–0.09%, respectively. The reconstituted hybrids (RBuland and RPMH1) showed significant enhancement of endosperm proA (6.97–9.82 ppm), tryptophan (0.07–0.09%), and lysine (0.29–0.43%), while grain yield was at par with their original versions. The dissemination of reconstituted hybrids holds significant promise to alleviate vitamin-A deficiency and protein-energy malnutrition in developing countries.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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