Abstract
White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is one of the most important legumes for fodder production in temperate climates, particularly in intensive pasture systems. Like many other forage legumes, it lacks the energy content to maximize productivity of modern ruminant livestock breeds. White clover produces water-soluble carbohydrates and starch in its leaves as a diurnal product of photosynthesis. However, little is known about the genetically encoded variability of diel changes in carbohydrate content. We assessed the amount of glucose, fructose, sucrose, and starch in the leaves of 185 plants of a genetically diverse white clover population. Water-soluble carbohydrates only provided on average 10.6% of dry weight (DW) of the total analyzed non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content at the end of the day (ED), while starch supplied 89.4% of the NSC content. The top 5% of individuals accumulated over 25% of their DW as starch at ED. The leaf starch content at ED showed up to a threefold difference between genotypes, with a repeatability value of 0.95. Our experiments illustrate both the physical potential of white clover to serve as a competitive energy source to meet the demand of modern ruminant livestock production and the genetic potential to improve this trait by breeding.
Highlights
Ruminant livestock have provided meat and dairy from animals that were traditionally fed on pasture and grassland swards containing forage legumes
To evaluate the phenotypic variation of leaf non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content in white clover, glucose, fructose, sucrose, and starch were analyzed in 185 genotypes of the variety Munida
To limit genotype-by-environment interactions, the experiments were carried out under uniform glasshouse conditions, and sampling was done at the end of the photoperiod at the end of the day (ED), and before the beginning of the photoperiod at the end of night (EN) to establish the maximum and minimum diel NSC content for individual genotypes
Summary
Ruminant livestock have provided meat and dairy from animals that were traditionally fed on pasture and grassland swards containing forage legumes. When well-managed, these perennial agroecosystems maintain carbon, water, and nutrient cycles [1,2,3]. Animals fed on diets containing grasses and forage legumes are more productive than animals fed on grass alone, these pasture and grassland systems generally do not provide the energy content needed to maximize the productivity potential of modern animal breeds and meet the consumer demand for low-cost meat and dairy. Modern ruminant livestock production has increasingly shifted towards confined feeding operations (CFOs), where supplemented cereal grains increase the dietary-energy content and augment animal productivity. Cereal grains are often transported across large geographic ranges, disrupting natural carbon and nutrient cycles [3]. There is a growing interest to maximize the protein and energy content of forage grasses and legumes in order to deliver a high proportion of the feed intake from locally produced roughage
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