Improving the nutritional value of sweet corn

Project Overview

Breeding Methods and Germplasm for Improved Nutritional Quality of Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is the third most commonly consumed vegetable in the United States. Improving its nutritional quality through plant breeding is a cost-effective and sustainable approach to help at-risk segments of the New York population consume the daily recommended amount of important nutrients, such as provitamin A and vitamin E.

Sweet corn is the third most commonly consumed vegetable in the United States yet it still does not provide adequate daily levels of provitamin A (carotenoids) and vitamin E (tocochromanols). Higher levels of carotenoids and tocochromanols in the U.S. food supply would help prevent several health complications. Improving the nutritional quality of sweet corn through plant breeding is a cost-effective and sustainable approach to help at-risk segments of the New York population consume the daily recommended amount of these important nutrients.

In 2014 and 2015, a diverse population of 400 sweet corn inbred lines was grown at Cornell University’s Musgrave Research Farm and captured a significant amount of genetic diversity. The sweet corn population was genotyped with nearly 200,000 genetic markers at genome-wide coverage. Genetic marker-based prediction models were implemented to select for the most nutrient-dense lines within the sweet corn population. More than 150 genetic crosses were made between lines from the population with high carotenoid and tocochromanol levels.

The Impacts

Five genes were found to be directly involved in the biosynthesis of provitamin A (carotenoids) or vitamin E (tocochromanols), which allowed for the development of a breeding strategy centered on the two biosynthetic pathways. The most favorable alleles of the five genes were characterized and will be selected upon in sweet corn breeding populations. A sweet corn breeding program was founded at Cornell University on an initial 150 genetic crosses for improved vitamin kernel content. Ultimately, this work will lead to the release of elite, nutrientdense sweet corn varieties adapted to New York, providing a novel value-added trait — increased nutritional quality that is also visually distinct to local growers.

Website: Gore Lab

Michel Gore stands in a corn field.

Principal Investigator

Michael Gore

Project Details

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Cornell Unit

School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Breeding and Genetics