Abstract
The potential benefits of the low phytic acid (lpa) seed trait for human and animal nutrition, and for phosphorus management in non-ruminant animal production, are well documented. However, in many cases the lpa trait is associated with impaired seed or plant performance, resulting in reduced yield. This has given rise to the perception that the lpa trait is tightly correlated with reduced yield in diverse crop species. Here we report a powerful test of this correlation. We measured grain yield in lines homozygous for each of six barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) lpa mutations that greatly differ in their seed phytic acid levels. Performance comparisons were between sibling wild-type and mutant lines obtained following backcrossing, and across two years in five Idaho (USA) locations that greatly differ in crop yield potential. We found that one lpa mutation (Hvlpa1-1) had no detectable effect on yield and a second (Hvlpa4-1) resulted in yield losses of only 3.5%, across all locations. When comparing yields in three relatively non-stressful production environments, at least three lpa mutations (Hvlpa1-1, Hvlpa3-1, and Hvlpa4-1) typically had yields similar to or within 5% of the wild-type sibling isoline. Therefore in the case of barley, lpa mutations can be readily identified that when simply incorporated into a cultivar result in adequately performing lines, even with no additional breeding for performance within the lpa line. In conclusion, while some barley lpa mutations do impact field performance, a substantial fraction appears to have little or no effect on yield.
Highlights
The potential benefits of the low phytic acid crop seed phenotype, in the contexts of human and animal nutrition and in the context of management of phosphorus (P) in animal agricultural production, are well documented [1]
Barley Low Phytic Acid Mutations Selected for Isoline Development
The results presented here demonstrate that in the case of barley, lpa mutations can readily be identified that even with no additional breeding have little or no effect on yield
Summary
The potential benefits of the low phytic acid (lpa) crop seed phenotype, in the contexts of human and animal nutrition and in the context of management of phosphorus (P) in animal agricultural production, are well documented [1]. The strongest test of the relationship between the lpa trait and any other trait, whether it be yield or nutritional quality, is comparisons between sibling near-isogenic lines, obtained following sufficient backcrossing, and following selection for field performance in fixed genotypes that are either homozygous wild-type or homozygous mutant. Such sibling near-isogenic lines are genetically similar at most loci other than the lpa loci, so any differences observed in field performance or nutritional quality can validly be attributed to the different lpa locus alleles
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