Bio-fortification potential of global wild annual lentil core collection

Lentil, generally known as poor man’s’ meat due to its high protein value is also a good source of dietary fiber, antioxidants and vitamins along with fast cooking characteristics. It could be used globally as a staple food crop to eradicate hidden hunger, if this nutritionally rich crop is further enriched with essential minerals. This requires identification of essential mineral rich germplasm. So, in the present study, a core set of 96 wild accessions extracted from 405 global wild annual collections comprising different species was analyzed to determine its bio-fortification potential. Impressive variation (mg/100 g) was observed for different minerals including Na (30–318), K (138.29–1578), P (37.50–593.75), Ca (4.74–188.75), Mg (15–159), Fe (2.82–14.12), Zn (1.29–12.62), Cu (0.5–7.12), Mn (1.22–9.99), Mo (1.02–11.89), Ni (0.16–3.49), Pb (0.01–0.58), Cd (0–0.03), Co (0–0.63) and As (0–0.02). Hierarchical clustering revealed high intra- and inter-specific variability. Further, correlation study showed positive significant association among minerals and between minerals including agro-morphological traits. Accessions representation from Turkey and Syria had maximum variability for different minerals. Diversity analysis exhibited wide geographical variations across gene-pool in core set. Potential use of the identified trait-specific genetic resources could be initial genetic material, for genetic base broadening and biofortification of cultivated lentil.

小扁豆(Lentil)因蛋白质含量丰富，通常被称为"穷人的肉食"，同时它也是膳食纤维、抗氧化物质与维生素的优质来源，且具备易烹煮的特性。若能为这种营养富足的作物进一步富集必需矿物质，便可将其作为全球主食作物，用于消除隐性饥饿。而实现这一目标的前提，是鉴定出富含必需矿物质的种质资源(germplasm)。本研究针对从涵盖不同物种的405份全球一年生野生种质采集资源中筛选得到的96份核心野生种质材料(wild accessions)展开分析，以评估其生物强化(bio-fortification)潜力。本研究观测到各类矿物质的含量（单位：mg/100g）均存在显著变异，具体范围如下：钠(Na) 30~318、钾(K) 138.29~1578、磷(P) 37.50~593.75、钙(Ca) 4.74~188.75、镁(Mg) 15~159、铁(Fe) 2.82~14.12、锌(Zn) 1.29~12.62、铜(Cu) 0.5~7.12、锰(Mn) 1.22~9.99、钼(Mo) 1.02~11.89、镍(Ni) 0.16~3.49、铅(Pb) 0.01~0.58、镉(Cd) 0~0.03、钴(Co) 0~0.63、砷(As) 0~0.02。层次聚类(Hierarchical clustering)结果显示，该群体存在显著的种内与种间变异。相关性分析表明，各矿物质之间，以及矿物质与农艺形态性状(agro-morphological traits)之间均存在显著的正相关关系。来自土耳其与叙利亚的种质材料，在各类矿物质含量上展现出最大的变异幅度。多样性分析结果显示，该核心种质的基因库(gene-pool)存在广泛的地理分布差异。本研究鉴定得到的性状特异性遗传资源，可作为拓宽栽培小扁豆遗传基础、开展生物强化育种的初始遗传材料。