Pearl millet is the sixth world most important cereal grain. It is is produced as a rain-fed grain and fodder crop in the hottest, driest regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian sub-continent, where it ensures food security by providing both calories as well as essential micronutrients more reliably than any other cereal. However, the nutritional quality of pearl millet is serioulsy hampered by its high content of phytic acid (IP6) and C-glucosylflavones (CGFs), both well-known anti-nutritional compounds that limit mineral bioavailability and cause goitrogenic effects, respectively. High-iron content advanced breeding lines and germplams of pearl millet have been recently identified, however, their high content in IP6 and polyphenols inhibits iron absorption (Tako et al., 2015, Nutr J, 14:11). Iodine is another essential micronutrient. Its deficiency is also prevalent in developing countries and is frequently the casue of goitre formation. Pearl millet consumption is considered one of the factors responsible for the high incidence of goitre in rural populations. C-glucosylflavones related to vitexin, glucosyl vitexin and glucosyl orientin are supposed to be responsible of the goitrogen effects (Gaitan et al., 1995, J Clin Endocrinol Metabol 80:1144-7). The finding that yellow coloured pearl millet is less goitrogenic than brown or grey millet is a good indication that a strategy based on the reduction or suppression of the accumulation of C-glucosylflavone(s) could be effective to reduce the goitrogenic effects associated to pearl millet consumption. The aim of the NewPearl project is to provide tools and knowledge to accelerate the breeding of new pearl millet varieties with increased nutritional qualities, as well as with better adaptation to environmental stresses. With the aim to make association studies by integreting phenotypic and GBS data, we will evaluate the natural genetic variability of the levels of IP6, CGFs and essential minerals (such as Fe and Zn) in pearl millet seeds. A total of 153 inbred lines derived from Western and Central African landraces, provided by ICRISAT, is currently under screening to quantify the content of such compounds in flour extracts. Data on the genetic variability of these traits will be presented. A further objective of this project is the identification in the pearl millet genome of relevant genes involved in IP6 and CGFs synthesis. Their expression will be investigated in the more contrasting lines at different seed developmental stages. Moreover, as future forecasted activity, a pearl millet TILLING population will be screened to search for low phytic acid (lpa) mutants, a strategy to reduce the antinutrient effects of IP6 which showed successful in other crops. This work is supported by CERES-NewPearl project, jointly funded by Fondazione Cariplo and Agropolis Fondation.
SEED QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF PEARL MILLET (Pennisetum glaucum): PROGRESS OF THE "NEWPEARL"- CERES PROJECT
COMINELLI E;DAMINATI MG;SPARVOLI F
2015
Abstract
Pearl millet is the sixth world most important cereal grain. It is is produced as a rain-fed grain and fodder crop in the hottest, driest regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian sub-continent, where it ensures food security by providing both calories as well as essential micronutrients more reliably than any other cereal. However, the nutritional quality of pearl millet is serioulsy hampered by its high content of phytic acid (IP6) and C-glucosylflavones (CGFs), both well-known anti-nutritional compounds that limit mineral bioavailability and cause goitrogenic effects, respectively. High-iron content advanced breeding lines and germplams of pearl millet have been recently identified, however, their high content in IP6 and polyphenols inhibits iron absorption (Tako et al., 2015, Nutr J, 14:11). Iodine is another essential micronutrient. Its deficiency is also prevalent in developing countries and is frequently the casue of goitre formation. Pearl millet consumption is considered one of the factors responsible for the high incidence of goitre in rural populations. C-glucosylflavones related to vitexin, glucosyl vitexin and glucosyl orientin are supposed to be responsible of the goitrogen effects (Gaitan et al., 1995, J Clin Endocrinol Metabol 80:1144-7). The finding that yellow coloured pearl millet is less goitrogenic than brown or grey millet is a good indication that a strategy based on the reduction or suppression of the accumulation of C-glucosylflavone(s) could be effective to reduce the goitrogenic effects associated to pearl millet consumption. The aim of the NewPearl project is to provide tools and knowledge to accelerate the breeding of new pearl millet varieties with increased nutritional qualities, as well as with better adaptation to environmental stresses. With the aim to make association studies by integreting phenotypic and GBS data, we will evaluate the natural genetic variability of the levels of IP6, CGFs and essential minerals (such as Fe and Zn) in pearl millet seeds. A total of 153 inbred lines derived from Western and Central African landraces, provided by ICRISAT, is currently under screening to quantify the content of such compounds in flour extracts. Data on the genetic variability of these traits will be presented. A further objective of this project is the identification in the pearl millet genome of relevant genes involved in IP6 and CGFs synthesis. Their expression will be investigated in the more contrasting lines at different seed developmental stages. Moreover, as future forecasted activity, a pearl millet TILLING population will be screened to search for low phytic acid (lpa) mutants, a strategy to reduce the antinutrient effects of IP6 which showed successful in other crops. This work is supported by CERES-NewPearl project, jointly funded by Fondazione Cariplo and Agropolis Fondation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
