Search

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) with high oleic acid content have extended shelf life and several health benefits. Oleic, linoleic, and palmitic acid contents in peanuts are regulated by ahFAD2A and ahFAD2B mutant alleles. In the present study, ahFAD2A and ahFAD2B mutant alleles from SunOleic 95R were introgressed into two popular peanut cultivars, GG-7 and TKG19A, followed by markers-assisted selection (MAS) and backcrossing (MABC). A total of 22 MAS and three MABC derived lines were developed with increased oleic acid (78–80%) compared to those of GG 7 (40%) and TKG 19A (50%). Peanut kernel mineral and vitamin composition remained unchanged, while potassium content was altered in high oleic ingression lines. Two introgression lines, HOMS Nos. 37 and 113 had over 10% higher pooled pod yield than respective best check varieties. More than 70% recurrent parent genome recovery was observed in HOMS-37 and HOMS-113 through recombination breeding. However, the absence of recombination in the vicinity of the target locus resulted in its precise introgression along with ample background genome recovery. Selected introgression lines could be released for commercial cultivation based on potential pod yield and oleic acid content.

In the present study, the correlation and presence of genetic interactions were studied in the F3 and F5 generations of two groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crosses. Most of the characters studied were positively skewed and were governed by multiple genes, indicating quantitative inheritance. Variance, skewness, and kurtosis indicate that homozygosity has increased over the generations in both crosses. Cross-B was found to be better than cross-A in providing high-yielding segregants displaying parental diversity. Pod yield per plant and other associated characters, such as plant height, are controlled by complementary action of multiple genes. A shift in correlation coefficients was recorded between the generations, which can be attributed to the difference in gene complementation of linkage blocks and is an indication of the unstable nature of the breeding population. Overall, five lines with superior pod yield were identified, which could be used for varietal development.