Development of β-carotene, lysine, and tryptophan-rich maize (Zea mays) inbreds through marker-assisted gene pyramiding.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the leading cereal crop and staple food in many parts of the world. This study aims to develop nutrient-rich maize genotypes by incorporating crtRB1 and o2 genes associated with increased β-carotene, lysine, and tryptophan levels.

Marker aided introgression of allele improving lysine and tryptophan in maize ( L.).

Maize is the predominant food source for the world population, but lack of lysine and tryptophan in maize endosperm cannot fulfill the nutritional requirements of humans. Hence, the improvement of lysine and tryptophan content is the ultimate goal of maize biofortification programs. In the present study, the marker-assisted backcross (MABC) breeding strategy was used to enhance the lysine and tryptophan content of the elite maize inbred line UMI1230 by introgressing gene from the VQL1.