Maternal inheritance of grain iron and zinc densities in pearl millet

Published on Jan 01, 2020 12:33 PM

Genetic variation and inheritance of micronutrients in pearl
millet has largely been studied in recent years as part of
biofortification initiatives. In this study, maternal (reciprocal)
effect on inheritance of grain Fe and Zn was studied using
a set of diverse breeding material. Entries were paired for
low and high for Fe density to produce direct and reciprocal
crosses. Over two-seasons, Fe density among parents
varied 31-64 mg kg–1 and Zn density varied 28-43 mg kg–1.
Difference between each direct and reciprocal crosses for
Fe (1 to 4 mg kg–1) and Zn (0 to 2 mg kg–1) were negligible
and non-significant, hence cytoplasmic or maternal genes
are not likely to modify inheritance of these traits. These
results indicate that high Fe/Zn inbred can be used either
as female or male parent in hybrid-parent breeding program.

Keywords: Maternal effect, iron, zinc, biofortification

Info

Year: 2019
Volume: 79
Issue: 4
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.79.4.15
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906

Authors

Anand Kanatti, Mahalingam Govindaraj, Kedar Nath Rai and Aluri S. Rao

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