Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2020
Gene Expression and Metabolite Profiling of Thirteen Nigerian Cassava Landraces to Elucidate Starch and Carotenoid Composition
Olayide, Priscilla; Large, Annabel; Stridh, Linnea; Rabbi, Ismail; Baldermann, Susanne; Stavolone, Livia; Alexandersson, ErikAbstract
The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa necessitates effective approaches to improve provitamin A content of major staple crops. Cassava holds much promise for food security in sub-Saharan Africa, but a negative correlation between beta-carotene, a provitamin A carotenoid, and dry matter content has been reported, which poses a challenge to cassava biofortification by conventional breeding. To identify suitable material for genetic transformation in tissue culture with the overall aim to increase beta-carotene and maintain starch content as well as better understand carotenoid composition, root and leaf tissues from thirteen field-grown cassava landraces were analyzed for agronomic traits, carotenoid, chlorophyll, and starch content. The expression of five genes related to carotenoid biosynthesis were determined in selected landraces. Analysis revealed a weak negative correlation between starch and beta-carotene content, whereas there was a strong positive correlation between root yield and many carotenoids including beta-carotene. Carotenoid synthesis genes were expressed in both white and yellow cassava roots, but phytoene synthase 2 (PSY2), lycopene-epsilon-cyclase (LCY epsilon), and beta-carotenoid hydroxylase (CHY beta) expression were generally higher in yellow roots. This study identified lines with reasonably high content of starch and beta-carotene that could be candidates for biofortification by further breeding or plant biotechnological means.Keywords
carotenoid biosynthesis; ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS); provitamin A; biofortificationPublished in
Agronomy2020, volume: 10, number: 3, article number: 424
Publisher: MDPI
Authors' information
Olayide, Priscilla (Olayide, Priscilla Olukola)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Olayide, Priscilla (Olayide, Priscilla Olukola)
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Large, Annabel
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Rabbi, Ismail
Int Inst Trop Agr
Baldermann, Susanne
Univ Potsdam
Baldermann, Susanne
Leibniz Inst Vegetable and Ornamental Crops
Stavolone, Livia
CNR
Stavolone, Livia
Int Inst Trop Agr
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection Biology
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG2 Zero hunger
UKÄ Subject classification
Agricultural Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030424
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106433