P1221Elucidating High Betacarotene Acumulation in Cassava Based on Next Generation Sequencing
Nearly two billion people around the world suffer one or more micronutrient deficiencies, being Africa the continent with the highest percentage of population affected. A strategy to efficiently and cost effectively mitigate micronutrient deficiencies is to genetically improve staple crops to increase their nutritional content. Cassava (Manihot esculentaCrantz) is a staple food for more than 500 million people in the world. In the past 10 years CIAT, in collaboration with HarvestPlus, had made continuous efforts to increase the content of beta-carotene [provitamin A (pVA)] in different cassava varieties, which is naturally very low and likely to be controlled by several genes. To accelerate the selection of high pVA cassava genotypes, we are developing a SNP-based genetic map to unravel the genetic location of high pVA and characterize all other genes involved in its accumulation. Next generation sequencing for SNP discovery, allows genomic exploration of features of interest to elucidating not only the chromosomal location of important traits but the capacity to narrow down the search to those important genes responsible of controlling the trait’s expression. Two pseudo F2 high pVA segregating populations (GM3732 and GM3736) were established at CIAT and over three years evaluated for pVA segregation using colorimetry, NIRS and HPLC methodology. The association of the biochemical data with the RAD sequencing genetic map and genes of the b-carotenoid pathway characterized using Whole Genome Sequencing in 10 cassava genotypes will allow us to develop molecular markers linked with high provitamin A in cassava.
keywords: Biochemical data, RAD sequencing, Whole Genome sequencing.