Single Nucleotide Polymorphism SNP Markers in Sesame to study functional polymorphism of selected economically important traits

Abstract

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), of family Pedaliaceae, is one of the oldest and most nutritious oilseed crops known to humankind.By using molecular techniques, it is possible to modify specifically the seed oil quality while keeping the rest of the genetic background of the plant intact. The study was undertaken to fulfill the needs of molecular breeder. The fatty acid composition was prepared for all the sesame accessions. The three genes associated with the essential fatty acids were studied in detail. The SNPs found in these genes were associated with the phenotypic data and finally, the domestication history of the candidate gene in the crop germplasm was studied.The genes responsible for the production of these fatty acids, sad, fad2 and o3fad, were targeted for further studies. The three genes were screened for finding SNPs and INDELs in the ninety nine accessions of sesame. These ninety nine accessions were selected showing the maximum variation in fatty acid profile, amongst the one hundred and fifty accessions taken for initial study. The amplification product for sad locus was 1501bp long, fad2 locus was 1437bp and o3fad locus gave an amplification product of 1490bp. The present study has concluded that sesame, the queen of oilseeds, needs to be modified to expand the market niche for its oil. Molecular breeders targeting for increase of particular fatty acid, can use the primers designed, to genotype the population followed by marker assisted selection and genetic transformation. newline