Assessing Root Variability and Metabolite Content in a Diverse Germplasm Collection of Yellow Lupin (Lupinus luteus L.)

Plant breeders have continuously generated new better yielding varieties more adapted to local conditions and specialized to specific needs of the industry. However, this breeding effort has been mostly dedicated to increase shoot biomass and seed yields, leaving the study of roots, and their influence upon grain yield, in the rear seat of crop breeding. Recent efforts have shown that by better understanding root physiology, morphology and genetics, significantly increases on seed yield could be achieved even under stress conditions. Thus, breeding lupins with stronger and deeper roots should increase and stabilize seed yields, one of the hardest traits to breed in lupin crops. The main goal of this research is to genetically analyze root natural variation, including morphology and metabolite content, in a diverse set of L. luteus, to facilitate the manipulation and introgression of favorable root traits into cultivated types. Lupin accessions were genotyped using a set of molecular markers including SSRs, EST-SSRs, SNPs, and INDELs. Association analyses uncovered several genomic regions associated to root morphology and secondary metabolite content. Currently, we are carrying out bioinformatic analyses to uncover candidate genes responsible of root variability.