Identification of SNP markers and candidate genes associated with productivity and seed quality in Urochloa humidicola through an integrative molecular approach.

• Grant number: 25/17228-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Anete Pereira de Souza
• Grantee: Sofia Rengifo Del Aguila
• Host Institution: Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Embrapa Sede
• Associated research grant: 22/04006-2 - Center for Plant Molecular Breeding (CeM²P), AP.PCPE

Abstract

Tropical forage grasses are of fundamental importance to Brazilian livestock farming, both for feeding livestock and for the seed market. The Urochloa humidicola species has great potential due to its remarkable adaptability and low nutritional requirements, making it an ideal candidate for forming pastures on waterlogged soils. However, its seed yield is low compared to other species of the genus. This characteristic, combined with the short seed retention period, the low percentage of viable seeds and high dormancy, makes the seed production process for this species complex, expensive and challenging. In this sense, unraveling the genetic architecture of yield and seed quality traits is essential for the development of breeding programs focused on these attributes. This project proposes the integration of genomic and transcriptomic molecular tools to identify, for the first time, genomic regions, candidate genes and molecular mechanisms associated with seed yield, vigor and germination in U. humidicola. To do this, a panel of 179 accessions and various hybrids will be evaluated, all available materials for the species, which will be genotyped via GBS (Genotyping-by-Sequencing) and phenotyped for characters such as total seed yield, pure seed yield, vigor and germination. Subsequently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) will be conducted to identify loci and markers significantly associated with these traits. In parallel, an RNA-Seq analysis will be carried out to compare the transcriptomes of the most contrasting genotypes and identify differentially expressed genes. It is hoped that the results obtained in this project will serve as a basis for the implementation of modern breeding techniques, such as Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS), which can accelerate the development of breeding programs for U. humidicola, thus contributing to the productivity and sustainability of Brazilian livestock. (AU)