Menkir Abebe, Dieng Ibnou, Meseka Silvestro, Maziya-Dixon Bussie, Bossey Bunmi, Muhyideen Oyekunle, Ewool Manfred, Coulibaly Mmadou, Mengesha Wende
Research for Development, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Jul 17;16:1611495. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1611495. eCollection 2025.
Maize is a strategic food crop in sub-Saharan Africa, where vitamin A deficiency affects millions. Significant investments have thus focused on developing maize varieties that provide 50% of the daily vitamin A requirement for vulnerable populations. Despite the release of many provitamin A enriched maize varieties across Africa, estimates of genetic gains in provitamin A content and grain yield from long-term breeding programs are undocumented. This study analyzed data from 124 provitamin A-enriched hybrids and eight commercial checks recorded over 12 years across diverse environments to estimate genetic gains. Results showed a significant annual increase of 2.05% in provitamin A and 3.54% in β-carotene, alongside a 1.09% reduction in β-cryptoxanthin. Additionally, our breeding program achieved an annual genetic gain of 1.88% in grain yield while simultaneously decreasing silking days by 0.09% and plant aspect score by 0.35%, alongside a 0.31% increase in plant height. We identified 23 hybrids that accumulated 54% to 95% more provitamin A and produced 10% to 30% higher grain yields compared to the best commercial hybrid (COMYH129). These findings demonstrate concurrent genetic gains in both provitamin A content and grain yield, highlighting the potential for further productivity increase and accumulation of beneficial carotenoid to improve human health.
玉米是撒哈拉以南非洲地区的一种战略粮食作物，该地区数百万人缺乏维生素A。因此，大量投资集中在培育能为弱势群体提供每日所需维生素A 50%的玉米品种上。尽管非洲各地已推出了许多富含维生素A原的玉米品种，但长期育种计划中维生素A原含量和谷物产量的遗传增益估计尚无记录。本研究分析了12年间在不同环境下记录的124个富含维生素A原的杂交种和8个商业对照的数据，以估计遗传增益。结果显示，维生素A原每年显著增加2.05%，β-胡萝卜素每年显著增加3.54%，同时β-隐黄质减少1.09%。此外，我们的育种计划在谷物产量方面实现了每年1.88%的遗传增益，同时抽丝天数减少0.09%，植株外观评分降低0.35%，株高增加0.31%。我们鉴定出23个杂交种，与最佳商业杂交种（COMYH129）相比，它们积累的维生素A原多54%至95%，谷物产量高10%至30%。这些发现表明，维生素A原含量和谷物产量同时实现了遗传增益，突出了进一步提高生产力和积累有益类胡萝卜素以改善人类健康的潜力。
