Genetic architecture of open-pollinated varieties of pearl millet for grain iron and zinc densities

Abstract

Genetic architecture of two commercial open-pollinated varieties of pearl millet (ICTP 8203 and ICMV 221) for grain iron and zinc densities was studied using 160 full-sib progenies each that were developed following North Carolina Design-1 and evaluated for two seasons. Results showed predominantly additive genetic variance and nonsignificant additive gene effect × environment interaction variance compared to large and significant dominance × environment interaction variance for both micronutrients in both populations. This translated into high narrow-sense heritability for Fe (65%) and Zn (86%) in ICTP 8203, and moderate heritability of 45% for both micronutrients in ICMV 221. In comparison, 1000-seed weight, generally assumed to be highly heritable, was predominantly under dominance gene control and had large dominance × environment interaction, giving the narrow-sense heritability estimates of 31% in ICTP 8203 and 13% in ICMV 221. These results, and highly significant and positive correlation observed between Fe and Zn densities, and non-significant correlations of these micronutrients with grain weight suggest that simultaneous selection for Fe and Zn densities in these populations can be effectively made without compromising the grain size.

Evaluation of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] for grain iron and zinc content in different agro climatic zones of India

“…The Pearson correlation coefficient among the trait means showed that, association was very high (r = 0.8, p < 0.01) between grain Fe and Zn content (Table 6). Earlier reports on pearl millet also showed similar relationship (Govindaraj et al 2016;Kanatti et al 2014Kanatti et al , 2016, as they may share some common physiological process, right from uptake of micronutrients from soil to finally sequestration in to the grains. Previous study in pearl millet by Kumar et al (2010), reported two co-mapped QTLs for both of these traits.…”

Possible effect of threshing method on grain iron and zinc density estimation in pearl millet: a contribution to biofortification breeding

“…A similar pattern was observed for Zn density (r=0.92-0.95; P<0.01). Although earlier studies in pearl millet reported highly positive and significant association between these micronutrient (Rai et al, 2012;Kanatti et al, 2014Kanatti et al, , 2016Govindaraj et al, 2016), however, no reports available on effect of threshing methods on grain minerals. This positive 671 DOI: 10.5958/0975-928X.2017.00101.6 and highly significant correlation coefficient between these two threshing methods in both the populations for grain Fe and Zn density, indicating high levels of consistency of the ranking of entries across the methods as well as populations for these micronutrients in pearl millet.…”

Status of Global Pearl Millet Breeding Programs and the Way Forward

“…This fourth phase is marked by the release of the largest number of cultivars and remarkable productivity increase (Kumara et al, 2014). Biofortification of the grain for micronutrients, mainly iron and zinc (Rai et al, 2013; Kanatti et al, 2016a, 2016b), and application of molecular technologies to expedite the cultivar development process were also strengthened. Research aimed at further diversification of the seed and restorer parents, improving disease resistance, and development of extra‐early hybrids for adaptation to specific niches is being conducted (Singh et al, 2014).…”