Project Overview
Commodities
- Vegetables: peas (culinary)
Practices
- Crop Production: crop improvement and selection, plant breeding and genetics
Proposal abstract:
Southern pea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is an important part of the diet of some subpopulations of the southeastern United States. These communities and demographics within these communities experience malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. This study will attempt to identify genetic resources in a panel of 192 American southern pea accessions previously genotyped under low-input conditions. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) will be used to quantify the micronutrient content of grains, and plants will be grown under field greenhouse conditions for two consecutive years to evaluate the heritability of these traits. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated in this population will be used to find quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with micronutrient content in grains, particularly iron, zinc, and magnesium. Candidate genes will be identified and testing/development of single sequence repeat (SSR) or Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) markers associated with causal QTLs for the accumulation of these micronutrients.
Project objectives from proposal:
Objective 1: Identify American southern pea cultivars or landraces with high micronutrient content and evaluate the biofortification potential for iron, magnesium, and zinc in this population grown with low-inputs.
Objective 2: Identify causal quantitative trait loci and/or genes in American southern pea germplasm associated with high levels of the iron, magnesium, and zinc.
Objective 3: Validate SNPs/QTLs/genes associated with seed micronutrient content using SSR or KASP markers and evaluate their potential use in breeding programs.