Natural Genetic Variation in Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Landraces: A Tool for Gene Discovery

Cassava landraces are the earliest form of the modern cultivars and represent the first step in cassava domestication. Our forward genetic analysis uses this resource to discover spontaneous mutations in the sucrose/ starch and carotenoid synthesis/accumulation and to develop both an evolutionary and breeding perspective of gene function related to those traits. Biochemical phenotype variants for the synthesis and accumulation of carotenoid, free sugar and starch were identified. Six subtractive cDNA libraries were prepared to construct a high quality (phred > 20) EST database with 1,645 entries. Macroarray and micro-array analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes aiming to identify candidate genes related to sugary phenotype and carotenoid diversity. cDNA sequence for gene coding for specific enzymes in the two pathways was obtained. Gene expression analysis for coding specific enzymes was performed by RNA blot and Real Time PCR analysis. Chromoplast-associated proteins of yellow storage root were fractionated and a peptide sequence database with 906 entries sequences (MASCOT validated) was constructed. For the sucrose/starch, metabolism a sugary class of cassava was identified, carrying a mutation in the BEI and GBSS genes. For the pigmented cassava, a pink color phenotype showed absence of expression of the gene CasLYB, while an intense yellow phenotype showed a down regulation of the gene CasHYb. Heat shock proteins were identified as the major proteins associated with carotenoid. Genetic diversity for the GBSS gene in the natural population identified 22 haplotypes and a large nucleotide diversity in four subsets of population. Single segregating population derived from F2, half-sibling and S1 population showed segregation for sugary phenotype (93% of individuals), waxy phenotype (38% of individuals) and glycogen like starch (2% of individuals). Here we summarize our current results for the genetic analysis of these variants and recent progress in mapping of loci and with large-effect genes. (author)