Influence of rare alleles of β-carotene hydroxylase and lycopene epsilon cyclase genes on accumulation of provitamin A carotenoids in maize kernels

Vitamin A deficiency is one of the major health problems worldwide. Traditional yellow maize possesses very low provitamin A (proA) concentration in endosperm. The influence of rare alleles of β-carotene hydroxylase (crtRB1) and lycopene epsilon cyclase (lcyE) genes capable of enhancing proA concentration was studied in four BC2F2 populations generated using subtropical inbreds and CIMMYT-HarvestPlus lines. The occurrence of severe segregation distortion for crtRB1 gene was observed, while lcyE gene was segregated as per Mendelian ratio. Genotype with favourable allele of crtRB1 (CC) had a significant effect on β-carotene (BC) (7.9-fold), β-cryptoxanthin (BCX) (twofold) and proA (5.5-fold) accumulation, compared to unfavourable genotype (C+C+). Genotype with favourable allele of lcyE (LL) showed 2.1-fold, 1.6-fold and twofold significant enhancement in BC, BCX and proA, respectively, over unfavourable genotype (L+L+) in pooled analysis. Of the nine genotypes, double homozygote (CC/LL) had the highest mean BC (12.60 μg/g), BCX (4.44 μg/g) and proA (14.82 μg/g), and combined effect was significantly better than individual gene effects or any other combinations. The information generated here would be useful in designing strategy for proA enrichment in subtropical maize.

[1]  K. Yeum,et al.  Genetic variation of carotenoids, vitamin E and phenolic compounds in Provitamin A biofortified maize. , 2016, Journal of the science of food and agriculture.

[2]  N. Pandey,et al.  Molecular characterization of endosperm and amino acids modifications among quality protein maize inbreds , 2016 .

[3]  Wei Chen,et al.  Introgression of the crtRB1 gene into quality protein maize inbred lines using molecular markers , 2015, Molecular Breeding.

[4]  F. Hossain,et al.  Biofortification of maize: An Indian perspective , 2015 .

[5]  S. Saha,et al.  Allelic variations for lycopene-ε-cyclase and β-carotene hydroxylase genes in maize inbreds and their utilization in β-carotene enrichment programme , 2015 .

[6]  M. Vignesh,et al.  Understanding Genetic and Molecular Bases of Fe and Zn Accumulation Towards Development of Micronutrient-Enriched Maize , 2015 .

[7]  M. Choudhary,et al.  Development of β-Carotene Rich Maize Hybrids through Marker-Assisted Introgression of β-carotene hydroxylase Allele , 2014, PloS one.

[8]  N. Palacios-Rojas,et al.  Effects of S1 recurrent selection for provitamin A carotenoid content for three open-pollinated maize cultivars. , 2014 .

[9]  N. Palacios-Rojas,et al.  Maize genotype and food matrix affect the provitamin A carotenoid bioefficacy from staple and carrot-fortified feeds in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). , 2014, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[10]  C. Spillane,et al.  Marker-trait association analysis of functional gene markers for provitamin A levels across diverse tropical yellow maize inbred lines , 2013, BMC Plant Biology.

[11]  T. Rocheford,et al.  Genetic architecture controlling variation in grain carotenoid composition and concentrations in two maize populations , 2013, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[12]  F. Hossain,et al.  Accelerated development of quality protein maize hybrid through marker‐assisted introgression of opaque‐2 allele , 2013 .

[13]  Jianbing Yan,et al.  Natural variation in the sequence of PSY1 and frequency of favorable polymorphisms among tropical and temperate maize germplasm , 2013, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[14]  Jianbing Yan,et al.  Validation of the effects of molecular marker polymorphisms in LcyE and CrtRB1 on provitamin A concentrations for 26 tropical maize populations , 2012, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[15]  Z. Xu,et al.  High segregation distortion in maize B73 x teosinte crosses. , 2012, Genetics and molecular research : GMR.

[16]  M. Vignesh,et al.  Genetic variability for kernel B-carotene and utilization of crtRB1 3'TE gene for biofortification in maize (Zea mays L.) , 2012 .

[17]  J. Hellin,et al.  Crops that feed the world 6. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by maize in global food security , 2011, Food Security.

[18]  W. Pfeiffer,et al.  Biofortification: A New Tool to Reduce Micronutrient Malnutrition , 2011, Food and nutrition bulletin.

[19]  N. Palacios,et al.  Provitamin a carotenoid bioavailability:what really matters? , 2010, International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition.

[20]  T. Rocheford,et al.  Rare genetic variation at Zea mays crtRB1 increases β-carotene in maize grain , 2010, Nature Genetics.

[21]  Ross M. Welch,et al.  Biofortification - a sustainable agricultural strategy for reducing micronutrient malnutrition in the global south. , 2010 .

[22]  Ratnakar Vallabhaneni,et al.  Metabolite Sorting of a Germplasm Collection Reveals the Hydroxylase3 Locus as a New Target for Maize Provitamin A Biofortification1[C][W][OA] , 2009, Plant Physiology.

[23]  T. Rocheford,et al.  β-Cryptoxanthin from supplements or carotenoid-enhanced maize maintains liver vitamin A in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) better than or equal to β-carotene supplements , 2008, British Journal of Nutrition.

[24]  Jianbing Yan,et al.  Natural Genetic Variation in Lycopene Epsilon Cyclase Tapped for Maize Biofortification , 2008, Science.

[25]  S. Tanumihardjo,et al.  Carotenoid-biofortified maize maintains adequate vitamin a status in Mongolian gerbils. , 2006, The Journal of nutrition.

[26]  R. Bernardo,et al.  Chromosomal regions associated with segregation distortion in maize , 2002, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[27]  J. Juvik,et al.  Quantification of carotenoid and tocopherol antioxidants in Zea mays. , 1999, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[28]  E. Weber.  Carotenoids and tocols of corn grain determined by HPLC , 1987 .

[29]  W. F. Thompson,et al.  Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. , 1980, Nucleic acids research.