Because measuring expansion volume (EV) is simple and inexpensive, popcorn breeders have developed high-quality single crosses ignoring the contents of zeins, starch, lipids, and cellular wall components in selection. However, some methods of quantification of these quality-related traits can be applied to popcorn breeding, increasing the selection efficacy for quality. The objectives of this study were to assess methods of zeins and starch quantification that can be used in popcorn breeding, characterize a temperate and a tropical populations for zeins and starch contents and identify candidate genes for these quality-related traits. We genotyped and phenotyped 286 plants. For quantification of total zeins and zein subunits we choose the ‘lab-on-a-chip’ microfluidic electrophoresis. For quantification of starch and amylose/amylopectin, we choose the Megazyme's Amylose/Amylopectin kit assay. The temperate population has superior EV (36.0%), a higher level of the 19 kDa zein subunit (32.0%), lower levels of the 21, 22 and 27 kDa subunits (−1543.0%, −40.0% and −47.0%, respectively) and no statistical difference for the 10 kDa zein content, relative to the tropical population. Although there are statistical differences between the two populations regarding starch, amylose, and amylose/amylopectin ratio, the differences are not significant (−2.0% to 8.0%). Thirteen candidate genes were identified for the 19 and 22 kDa zeins, two for amylose and one for starch, with emphasis on the genes coding for the 19 and 22 kDa alpha-zeins, located on chromosome 4. The evaluated quantification methods can be used in popcorn breeding but for a limited number of samples, mainly because costs.

中文翻译：

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温带和热带爆米花群体的表征以及玉米醇溶蛋白和淀粉含量的 GWAS

由于测量膨胀体积 (EV) 简单且便宜，爆米花育种者开发了高质量的单杂交，在选择时忽略了玉米醇溶蛋白、淀粉、脂质和细胞壁成分的含量。然而，这些质量相关性状的一些量化方法可以应用于爆米花育种，从而提高质量的选择效率。本研究的目的是评估可用于爆米花育种的玉米醇溶蛋白和淀粉定量方法，表征温带和热带种群的玉米醇溶蛋白和淀粉含量，并确定这些质量相关性状的候选基因。我们对 286 种植物进行了基因分型和表型分析。为了定量总玉米醇溶蛋白和玉米醇溶蛋白亚基，我们选择“芯片实验室”微流体电泳。为了定量淀粉和直链淀粉/支链淀粉，我们选择 Megazyme 的直链淀粉/支链淀粉试剂盒测定。温带种群的 EV 较高（36.0%），19 kDa 玉米醇溶蛋白亚基水平较高（32.0%），21、22 和 27 kDa 亚基水平较低（分别为 -1543.0%、-40.0% 和 -47.0%） ）并且相对于热带人群，10 kDa 玉米醇溶蛋白含量没有统计差异。尽管两个群体之间的淀粉、直链淀粉和直链淀粉/支链淀粉比率存在统计差异，但差异并不显着（-2.0% 至 8.0%）。确定了 13 个 19 和 22 kDa 玉米醇溶蛋白的候选基因，其中两个用于直链淀粉，一个用于淀粉，重点是编码位于 4 号染色体上的 19 和 22 kDa α-玉米醇溶蛋白的基因。评估的定量方法可用于但爆米花育种的样本数量有限，主要是因为成本。