Gebreyohannes Adane, Shimelis Hussein, Gimode Davis M, Grandham Prasad, Valluri Vinod Kumar, Nida Habte, Moenga Susan M, Ojiewo Chris O, Kilian Benjamin, Odeny Damaris A
African Centre for Crop Improvement, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa.
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 436, Adama, Ethiopia.
Theor Appl Genet. 2025 May 8;138(6):111. doi: 10.1007/s00122-025-04892-1.
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana) (2n = 4x = 36) remains one of the most important millets in East Africa (EA), where it was most likely domesticated along the highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda. The goal of the current study was to understand the population structure of the Ethiopian finger millet landraces and identify quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) and haplotypes associated with agronomic and nutritional traits. In a field evaluation across three environments, 448 genotypes were assessed for days to flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DTM), thousand seed weight (TSW), grain yield (GY), stay-green score (STG), and drought score (DrtSc). The harvested grain was analyzed for Fe and Zn contents. A subset of 391 genotypes was skim-sequenced, generating 24,112 high-quality SNPs that were employed for population structure, association mapping, and haplotype analysis. Seventy marker-trait associations were detected including 15 major QTNs with more than 30% phenotypic variance explained (PVE) for all traits except STG and GY. Pleiotropic major QTNs were identified for DTM/DTF and Fe/Zn on chromosomes 9B and 2B, respectively. Haplotype analysis of major QTNs identified 54 significant haplotype blocks and 2 additional haplotypes for a multidrug ABC transporter gene family like protein on chromosome 4A that was associated with PTH. Favorable haplotypes from pleiotropic DTM/DTF and Fe/Zn QTNs were present in 13 and 12 genotypes respectively, majority from Tigray region. Two genotypes from Tigray and one from Amhara harbored favorable haplotypes for DTM/DTF and Fe/Zn. These findings provide invaluable insights for targeted breeding to enhance finger millet resilience, nutritional profile, and yield.
龙爪稷（Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana）（2n = 4x = 36）仍然是东非最重要的小米之一，它很可能是在埃塞俄比亚和乌干达的高地被驯化的。本研究的目的是了解埃塞俄比亚龙爪稷地方品种的群体结构，并鉴定与农艺和营养性状相关的数量性状核苷酸（QTN）和单倍型。在三个环境中的田间评估中，对448个基因型进行了开花天数（DTF）、成熟天数（DTM）、千粒重（TSW）、籽粒产量（GY）、持绿评分（STG）和干旱评分（DrtSc）的评估。对收获的籽粒进行了铁和锌含量分析。对391个基因型的子集进行了简化测序，产生了24112个高质量的单核苷酸多态性（SNP），用于群体结构、关联作图和单倍型分析。检测到70个标记-性状关联，包括15个主要QTN，除STG和GY外，所有性状的表型变异解释率（PVE）均超过30%。分别在9B和2B染色体上鉴定出了与DTM/DTF和铁/锌相关的多效性主要QTN。主要QTN的单倍型分析确定了54个显著的单倍型块，以及与PTH相关的4A染色体上一个多药ABC转运蛋白基因家族样蛋白的另外2个单倍型。来自多效性DTM/DTF和铁/锌QTN的有利单倍型分别存在于13个和12个基因型中，大多数来自提格雷地区。来自提格雷的两个基因型和来自阿姆哈拉的一个基因型含有DTM/DTF和铁/锌的有利单倍型。这些发现为有针对性的育种提供了宝贵的见解，以提高龙爪稷的抗逆性、营养成分和产量。
