Genetic Variation for Seed Mineral Concentration in Diverse Germplasm of Lentil.

Lentil (Lens culinaris) is an important food legume that can provide significant amounts of dietary minerals and other essential nutrients to humans.  In order to better understand the nutritional diversity that exists within this species, we have assessed seed mineral concentration in 232 diverse accessions of the lentil single plant derived core collection that is maintained by USDA.  Plants of each accession were grown to maturity in a greenhouse using a soil mix and daily irrigation with a complete nutrient solution.  This “luxury consumption” of nutrients was designed to focus on the genetic potential of each accession to acquire and mobilize minerals to their seeds.  At maturity, all seeds collected from six plants per accession were combined, dried at 70 C, and finely ground to homogenize the bulk sample.  Two sub-samples of each accession were processed for mineral analysis using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy.  Seed mineral concentrations will be presented for the macronutrient minerals: calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and sulfur, and for the micronutrient minerals: iron, manganese, zinc, and copper.  Data for individual accessions are being entered into the USDA-ARS Germplasm Resource Information Network (GRIN) database, where the information can be accessed by breeders and other research scientists.  This work was funded, in part, through a grant from the USDA-ARS Cool Season Food Legume Crop Germplasm Committee to MAG and through funds from USDA-ARS under Agreements No. 58-6250-6-003 (MAG) and 5348-12000-026-00D (CC).