QTL Mapping of Seed Fe Concentration in an Interspecific RIL Population Derived from Lens culinaris × Lens ervoides

Biofortification of lentil ( Lens culinaris Medik.) was investigated to potentially increase bioavailable iron (Fe) in the human diet. This study assessed the genetic variation for seed Fe concentration (SFeC) and identified the genomic regions associated with SFeC in an interspecific mapping population derived from crossing between L. culinaris cv. ‘Eston’ and L. ervoides accession IG 72815. A total of 134 RILs were evaluated in three environments. The SFeC data for individual environments and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) of the SFeC across environments were used for QTL analysis. The seeds of the RILs exhibited variation for SFeC from 47.0 to 102.9 mg kg-1 and several RILs showed transgressive segregation for SFeC. QTL analysis identified two QTLs on chromosomes 2 and 6 that accounted for 11.9-14.0% and 12.5-20.5%, respectively, of the total phenotypic variation for SFeC. The SNP markers linked to the identified QTLs may prove useful for increasing SFeC via marker-assisted selection. RILs with high SFeC can be incorporated into the lentil breeding program to broaden the genetic base of the breeding pool and/or used for the development of genetic resources for future genomic studies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.