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Variation in grain Zn concentration, and the grain ionome, in field-grown Indian wheat

Khokhar, Jaswant Singh; Sareen, Sindhu; Tyagi, Bhudeva Singh; Singh, Gyanendra; Wilson, Lolita; King, Ian P.; Young, Scott D.; Broadley, Martin R.

Authors

Jaswant Singh Khokhar

Sindhu Sareen

Bhudeva Singh Tyagi

Gyanendra Singh

Lolita Wilson

Scott D. Young



Abstract

Wheat is an important dietary source of zinc (Zn) and other mineral elements in many countries. Dietary Zn deficiency is widespread, especially in developing countries, and breeding (genetic biofortification) through the HarvestPlus programme has recently started to deliver new wheat varieties to help alleviate this problem in South Asia. To better understand the potential of wheat to alleviate dietary Zn deficiency, this study aimed to characterise the baseline effects of genotype (G), site (E), and genotype by site interactions (GxE) on grain Zn concentration under a wide range of soil conditions in India. Field experiments were conducted on a diverse panel of 36 Indian-adapted wheat genotypes, grown on a range of soil types (pH range 4.5–9.5), in 2013–14 (five sites) and 2014–15 (six sites). Grain samples were analysed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean grain Zn concentration of the genotypes ranged from 24.9–34.8 mg kg-1, averaged across site and year. Genotype and site effects were associated with 10% and 6% of the overall variation in grain Zn concentration, respectively. Whilst G x E interaction effects were evident across the panel, some genotypes had consistent rankings between sites and years. Grain Zn concentration correlated positively with grain concentrations of iron (Fe), sulphur (S), and eight other elements, but did not correlate negatively with grain yield, i.e. no yield dilution was observed. Despite a relatively small contribution of genotype to the overall variation in grain Zn concentration, due to experiments being conducted across many contrasting sites and two years, our data are consistent with reports that biofortifying wheat through breeding is likely to be effective at scale given that some genotypes performed consistently across diverse soil types. Notably, all soils in this study were probably Zn deficient and interactions between wheat genotypes and soil Zn availability/management (e.g. the use of Zn-containing fertilisers) need to be better-understood to improve Zn supply in food systems.

Citation

Khokhar, J. S., Sareen, S., Tyagi, B. S., Singh, G., Wilson, L., King, I. P., …Broadley, M. R. (2018). Variation in grain Zn concentration, and the grain ionome, in field-grown Indian wheat. PLoS ONE, 13(1), Article e0192026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192026

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 16, 2018
Publication Date Jan 30, 2018
Deposit Date Feb 5, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Electronic ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Issue 1
Article Number e0192026
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192026
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/908189
Publisher URL http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192026

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