Metabolomics: An Advanced Technique for Precision Phenotyping in Yams (Dioscorea spp.)

Over 97% of Dioscorea(yam) production is in Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDC). As such, yams are vital for food security. Yam production has doubled in the last two decades to ~60MT per annum yet yields have declined by a third during this period. Despite this, yam retains a large untapped base of genetic diversity (six cultivated species) and variability within species which provides intrinsic opportunity for crop improvements through the exploitation of natural variation.

A diverse set of Dioscorea lines from the global breeding program have undergone metabolomic profiling and the first representation of the primary metabolome of yam tuber generated. Routine analysis provides relative quantification of over 200 metabolites per sample. Screening a preliminary subset identified accessions with metabolites of interest, redundancy within the germplasm collection and improved species classifications. On the basis of current genetic resources, metabolomic profiling offers more potential than gene based marker-assisted breeding for near-future gains in yam production and utilisation.