Molecular tagging of a novel genetic locus linked to accumulation of lutein â€“ A therapeutic carotenoid in rice grains

Published on May 02, 2020 07:37 AM

Lutein is one of the major carotenoids in eye macula and

its deficiency is attributed to age-related macular

degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. Developing Lutein rich

staple food crop will help in supplementing its requirement

among rural people through regular diet. The present study

was undertaken with a view to tag genetic loci controlling

lutein accumulation in rice through Bulked Segregant

Analysis (BSA). Estimation of lutein content in the

dehusked grains of selected 65 RILs revealed the normal

distribution (1.14-285.62 Î¼g/100gm) of lutein accumulation

with a significance of p<0.041. Parental polymorphism

survey using > 350 genome wide SSR markers detected

30.8% (108 SSR markers) polymorphism between Kavuni

and CO 50 rice genotypes. BSA of extreme bulks containing

contrasting levels of lutein along with the parents using

the genome wide polymorphic SSR markers resulted in the

identification of four SSR markers namely RM197 (3.0 Mb),

RM204 (3.1 Mb), RM225 (3.4 Mb) and RM19442 (3.7Mb) on

chromosome 6 showing clear association with the lutein

content. Single-marker linear regression approach using

the allelic pattern of all four markers in the region 3.0-3.7Mb

showed significant association with lutein content. The

regression analysis showed that the SSR markers in the

region 3.0-3.7Mb linked QTL accounted for 35.9% of the

genetic variation for lutein content.

Keywords: Kavuni, lutein, carotenoid, BSA, QTL

Year: 2020
Volume: 80
Issue: 1
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.80.1.2
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906

M. Raveendran and R. Valarmathi