19th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
An Investigation of the Use of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Analysis for Determining the Presence of Low Phytate Genotypes within Single Maize Kernels
Courtney Bonney* and Laban K. Tabartet
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor
Phosphorus pollution in the US is directly tied to agricultural management practices, particularly in states like Missouri with large numbers of hog confinement operations. To counter this, two recessive alleles were identified by Dr. Victor Raboy (USDA-ARS) named lpa-1 and lpa-2. These mutations results in an accumulation of inorganic phosphorus rather than phytate phosphorus. High phosphorus availability in low phytate corn eliminates the need for phosphate supplements and therefore reduces the amount of phosphorus released into the environment. Preliminary evidence from our work suggesting that a non-destructive, near-infrared transmittance spectroscopy (NITS) calibration can be constructed for bulk samples to identify low phytate grain. In this study, we attempted to predict the presence of the low phytate alleles through single-kernel sampling from genetic material segregating lpa-1 Our data revealed that this method is not sensitive enough to predict at the single-kernel level.
Keywords: corn, maize, phytic acid, phytate, near infrared
Topic(s):Agricultural Science
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 60-54
Location: OP Lobby and Atrium
Time: 4:15