Introduction: Bush yam (Dioscorea praehensilis Benth.) is an important semi-domesticated food crop in West Africa. Limited information on the genetic architecture and its poor post-harvest tuber quality traits significantly hinder its use as food and source of income. Hence, dissecting the genetics underlying the expression of its post-harvest tuber quality traits is essential for establishing proper breeding schemes. Methods: In this study, 138 D. praehensilis accessions collected in Ghana were sequenced using Diversity Array Technology (DArTSeq). The materials were profiled for dry matter content (DMC), tuber flesh oxidation (TBOXI) and for tuber flesh hardness (TBhard) during two cropping seasons. Results and discussion: Diversity assessment using population structure, principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering methods revealed the presence of three major groups. Six genetic models were used for the trait association analysis using multiple random locus mixed linear model (MrMLM). Sixteen SNP markers distributed across the yam genome were identified to be associated with the evaluated traits. The associated SNP markers displayed a phenotypic variance ranged from 4.22% in TBHard to 16.92% in TBOXI. A total 25 putative candidate genes were identified around the SNP markers. The putative genes were identified to play key roles in tuber bulking, oxidative browning and starch hydroxylase. This study provides a valuable insight on the genetics underlying tuber quality traits in bush yam and opens avenues for developing genomic resources to improve D. praehensilis.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fhort.2024.1373327

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Paterne AGREhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1231-2530

Hapson Mushoriwahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8772-2409

https://doi.org/10.3389/fhort.2024.1373327

Biotech and Plant Breeding

Aflatoxin; Agronomy; Crop Systems; Food Security; Plant Breeding

Yams; Food Crops; Crop Calendar

Africa; West Africa

Ghana

Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

Frontiers in Horticulture