Genetic diversity studies for grain iron and zinc content analysis for Elite rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotype by using SSR markers

Abstract

Rice is an important staple food, yet the polished rice lacks essential micronutrients. Biofortification strategy enhance the micronutrients in food crop. The current study used fourteen polished rice genotypes to assess genetic diversity and to determine the Fe and Zn value by Di-Acid Wet Digestion technique. The results highlighted that Kissan Basmati had a high iron content 44.65 ppm, whereas Super Basmati 2019 had the highest zinc value of 34.51 ppm. The correlation between the marker and traits were determined using single marker analysis. For the analysis, ten SSR makers were utilized, with eight of them yielding polymorphic data. Monomorphic results were found for RM211 and RM331. Two markers, RM430 and RM437, were found to have a P-value of less than 0.05. RM430 had a P-value of 0.033 for zinc, whereas RM437 had a P-value of 0.046 for iron and 0.001 for zinc, with R2 values of 46.07, 23.46, and 45.07, respectively. This meant that RM430 had a statistically significant relationship with zinc content and RM437 had a statistically significant relationship with both micronutrients (Fe and Zn). These markers could be utilized as a technique to determine the Fe and Zn concentrations in rice. Consequently, the identified genotypes with improved Fe and Zn content could be utilized as donor in the future breeding program. In summary, our research shows that SSR technology is an effective method for assessing genomic diversity.