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Plant Genomics 2019
June 13-14, 2019
Berlin, Germany
Asian Journal of Plant Science & Research
ISSN: 2249-7412 Page 27
Plant Genomics
5th Edition of International Conference on
Marija Kostadinovic, AJPSKY 2019, Volume 09
Marker assisted selection for β -carotene rich maize:
Validation of the gene-specific marker in BC1 generation
Marija Kostadinovic
Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje, Serbia
Worldwide, modern grain breeding programs widely
implement Marker Assisted Selection (MAS).
Molecular markers are being used in two ways: To
control the target gene (foreground selection) and to
accelerate the reconstruction of the recurrent parent
genotype (background selection). Marker analysis allow
breeders to discard plants without allels of interest prior
to pollination, reducing the size of breeding population.
Marker assisted selection for the qualitative traits, which
are regulated by the action of a single or several genes
and are clearly phenotypically defined, achieved the
best results. The improvement of β-carotene content
using crtRB1-specific molecular marker is one of the
successful examples of MAS. The introgressed inbreds
possessing favourable allele of crtRB1 and improved
hybrids with increased β-carotene can be used in the
biofortification program.
The results presented herein are a part of the breeding
program conducted at the Maize Research Institute
“Zemun Polje”, with the aim to convert the standard
maize to β-carotene rich genotypes adapted to temperate
regions. The utility of SSR marker specific to the crtRB1
gene in foreground selection has been already tested
on parental lines and distinct marker polymorphism
was observed between the donor and recurrent parents.
The objective of this study was to validate the ability of
the same SSR marker to detect homozygous dominant
and heterozygous plants separately in BC1 generation.
Heterozygous individuals were clearly distinguishable,
therefore they will be selected and backcrossed with the
recurrent parent to produce BC2 generation. Percentage
of heterozygous plants identified in BC1 generation was
approximately 50%, which is in accordance with the
expected Mendelian ratio of 1 O2O2 : 1 O2o2. The use
of the crtRB1-specific marker will be extended in the
next generation of MAS for β-carotene enriched lines for
growing in temperate regions.
Biography
Marija Kostadinovic has completed her PhD in Genetics at
University of Belgrade, Serbia. At present, she is working as a
Research associate in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics
and Phisiology at the Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”,
where she is engaged in the project “Improving the quality of
maize and soybean by conventional and molecular breeding”
funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technolog-
ical Development of Republic of Serbia. Her research focus is
on themarker assisted selection for improvement of themaize
protein quality. Also, she is included in genetic characterization
of maize lines, hybrids and populations, as well as in biochem-
ical testing of the grain quality.