Sodedji, Frejus Ariel Kpedetin Ryu, Dahye Choi, Jaeyoung Agbahoungba, Symphorien Assogbadjo, Achille Ephrem N'guetta, Simon-Pierre Assanvo Jung, Je Hyeong Nho, Chu Won Kim, Ho-Youn 2024-01-19T12:30:07Z 2024-01-19T12:30:07Z 2022-04-29 2022-04 1661-6596 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/115457 The development and promotion of biofortified foods plants are a sustainable strategy for supplying essential micronutrients for human health and nutrition. We set out to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with carotenoid content in cowpea sprouts. The contents of carotenoids, including lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene in sprouts of 125 accessions were quantified via high-performance liquid chromatography. Significant variation existed in the profiles of the different carotenoids. Lutein was the most abundant (58 +/- 12.8 mg/100 g), followed by zeaxanthin (14.7 +/- 3.1 mg/100 g) and beta-carotene (13.2 +/- 2.9 mg/100 g). A strong positive correlation was observed among the carotenoid compounds (r >= 0.87), indicating they can be improved concurrently. The accessions were distributed into three groups, following their carotenoid profiles, with accession C044 having the highest sprout carotenoid content in a single cluster. A total of 3120 genome-wide SNPs were tested for association analysis, which revealed that carotenoid biosynthesis in cowpea sprouts is a polygenic trait controlled by genes with additive and dominance effects. Seven loci were significantly associated with the variation in carotenoid content. The evidence of variation in carotenoid content and genomic regions controlling the trait creates an avenue for breeding cowpea varieties with enhanced sprouts carotenoid content. English Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) Genetic Diversity and Association Analysis for Carotenoid Content among Sprouts of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) Article 10.3390/ijms23073696 1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, v.23, no.7 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES 23 7 Y scie scopus 000782212400001 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Chemistry Article LOW-INCOME R PACKAGE CROP PROVITAMIN HETEROSIS COUNTRIES QUALITY GENOME TRENDS biofortification cowpea carotenoid genomics grain legume QTL