Indian Journal of Science and Technology
DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2014/v7i9.15
Year: 2014, Volume: 7, Issue: 9, Pages: 1414–1425
Original Article
Vishnu Varthini Nachimuthu1 , S. Robin1 , D. Sudhakar2 , S. Rajeswari1 , M. Raveendran2 , K. S. Subramanian3 , Shalini Tannidi1 , Balaji Aravindhan Pandian1
1 Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India; popvarun@gmail.com, robin.tnau@gmail.com, rajisundar93@gmail.com, tannidi.shalini@gmail.com, aaron.agri@gmail.com
2 Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India; dsudhakar@hotmail.com, raveendrantnau@gmail.com
3 Department of Nano science and technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India; kssubra2001@rediffmail.com
Biofortification is an emerging cost-effective strategy to address global malnutrition especially in developing countries. This strategy involves supplying of micronutrients such as iron and zinc in the staple foods by using conventional plant breeding and biotechnology methods. Initial step in conventional plant breeding is to screen the natural gene reservoir for existing variation. The objective of this study is to estimate iron and zinc in the brown rice of 192 germplasm lines and to define its role in biofortification programme. Substantial variations among 192 lines existed for both iron and zinc content. Iron concentration ranged from 6.6 µg/g to 16.7 µg/g and zinc concentration from 7.1 µg/g to 32.4 µg/g in brown rice. Iron and zinc concentration were positively correlated implying the chance for concurrent selection for both the micronutrients. Micronutrient-rich genotypes identified in this study opens up the possibilities for the identification of genomic regions or QTLs responsible for mineral uptake and translocation that can be used as donor for developing nutrient enriched varieties.
Keywords: Biofortification, Germplasm, Iron, Micronutrient, Variability, Zinc
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