Département de phytologie, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Institute for Integrative and Systems Biology (IBIS), Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
BMC Plant Biol. 2020 Sep 7;20(1):419. doi: 10.1186/s12870-020-02631-w.
Mineral nutrients play a crucial role in the biochemical and physiological functions of biological systems. The enhancement of seed mineral content via genetic improvement is considered as the most promising and cost-effective approach compared alternative means for meeting the dietary needs. The overall objective of this study was to perform a GWAS of mineral content (Ca, K, P and S) in seeds of a core set of 137 soybean lines that are representative of the diversity of early maturing soybeans cultivated in Canada (maturity groups 000-II).
This panel of 137 soybean lines was grown in five environments (in total) and the seed mineral content was measured using a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer. The association analyses were carried out using three statistical models and a set of 2.2 million SNPs obtained from a combined dataset of genotyping-by-sequencing and whole-genome sequencing. Eight QTLs significantly associated with the Ca, K, P and S content were identified by at least two of the three statistical models used (in two environments) contributing each from 17 to 31% of the phenotypic variation. A strong reproducibility of the effect of seven out these eight QTLs was observed in three other environments. In total, three candidate genes were identified involved in transport and assimilation of these mineral elements.
There have been very few GWAS studies to identify QTLs associated with the mineral element content of soybean seeds. In addition to being new, the QTLs identified in this study and candidate genes will be useful for the genetic improvement of soybean nutritional quality through marker-assisted selection. Moreover, this study also provides details on the range of phenotypic variation encountered within the Canadian soybean germplasm.
矿物质营养在生物系统的生化和生理功能中起着至关重要的作用。通过遗传改良来提高种子的矿物质含量被认为是满足饮食需求的最有前途和最具成本效益的方法。本研究的总体目标是对 137 个大豆核心系的种子进行矿物质含量（Ca、K、P 和 S）的全基因组关联分析（GWAS），这些大豆系代表了在加拿大种植的早熟大豆的多样性（成熟组 000-II）。
该 137 个大豆系的品系在五个环境（共）中种植，并使用便携式 X 射线荧光（XRF）光谱仪测量种子的矿物质含量。关联分析使用三种统计模型和一组从测序和全基因组测序的组合数据集获得的 220 万个 SNP 进行。使用三种统计模型中的至少两种（在两个环境中）鉴定出与 Ca、K、P 和 S 含量显著相关的 8 个 QTL，每个 QTL 对表型变异的贡献率为 17%至 31%。在另外三个环境中，观察到这 8 个 QTL 中的七个的效应具有很强的可重复性。总共鉴定出三个候选基因，它们参与了这些矿物质元素的运输和同化。
很少有全基因组关联研究来鉴定与大豆种子矿物质元素含量相关的 QTL。除了是新的之外，本研究中鉴定的 QTL 和候选基因将有助于通过标记辅助选择来提高大豆的营养品质。此外，本研究还提供了加拿大大豆种质中遇到的表型变异范围的详细信息。
