Abstract
BackgroundQuinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a high-value grain known for its excellent nutritional balance. It is an allotetraploid species (AABB, 2n = 4x = 36) formed by the hybridization between AA and BB genome diploid (2n = 2x = 18) species. This study reports genetic studies in Chenopodium ficifolium as a potential B genome diploid model system to simplify the genetic studies of quinoa including gene identification and marker-assisted breeding.ResultsPortsmouth, New Hampshire and Quebec City, Quebec accessions of C. ficifolium were used to develop an F2 population segregating for agronomically relevant traits including flowering time, plant height, the number of branches, branch angle, and internode length. Marker-trait associations were identified for the FLOWERING LOCUS T-LIKE 1 (FTL1) marker gene, where the alternate alleles (A1/A2) were segregating among the F2 generation plants in association with flowering time, plant height, and the number of branches. There was a strong correlation of the flowering time trait with both plant height and the number of branches. Thus, a possible multifaceted functional role for FTL1 may be considered. The parental Portsmouth and Quebec City accessions were homozygous for the alternate FTL1 alleles, which were found to be substantially diverged. SNPs were identified in the FTL1 coding sequence that could have some functional significance in relation to the observed trait variation.ConclusionThese results draw further attention to the possible functional roles of the FTL1 locus in Chenopodium and justify continued exploration of C. ficifolium as a potential diploid model system for the genetic study of quinoa. We expect our findings to aid in quinoa breeding as well as to any studies related to the Chenopodium genus.
Highlights
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a high-value grain known for its excellent nutritional balance
We found that quinoa has three non-synonymous substitutions in the fourth exon of the FLOWERING LOCUS T-LIKE 1 (FTL1) gene that are not found in our P and Quebec City (QC) accessions or in a previously studied accession of C. ficifolium [21]
An F2 population segregating for flowering time, plant height, the number of branches, branch angle, and internode length was developed in C. ficifolium
Summary
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a high-value grain known for its excellent nutritional balance. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a “pseudocereal” grown for its edible seeds It has an excellent balance of all of the essential nutritional elements and is considered a valuable source of nutrition for adults, Quinoa breeding efforts are in progress worldwide, with the focus on higher yield, single stem, large grain size, disease resistance, early maturity, and low/no seedcoat saponin content [4]. Downy mildew disease, overly long maturation time, and immature grains at harvest are barriers for commercial cultivation of quinoa in New England. These and other agronomic constraints of quinoa such as excessive branching and severe lodging have been reported by other researchers [5, 6]
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