Genetic differences and variation in polysaccharide antioxidant activity found in germplasm resources for Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.)

Abstract

Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.) is an ancient plant with high nutritional and medicinal values. In this study, using 11 Job’s tears germplasm resources collected throughout China, we examined genetic differences among germplasms and differences in the in vitro antioxidant activities of coixan and sought to identify inter-relationships between these two variables. We found that the intraspecific conservation of DNA sequences was high, with ITS regions and cpDNA trnL-F and trnH-psbA non-coding sequences showing no sequence variation, whereas the GBSSI gene showed a certain degree of variation among the different Job’s tears germplasms. EST-SSR analysis also revealed a relatively low level of genetic diversity among germplasms. Coixan was shown to be an efficient antioxidant, and among the germplasms examined, the LNYX, FJPC and AHBZ had the highest antioxidant activities. However, none of the four in vitro antioxidant activity indices we assessed were significantly correlated with the geographical origin of the germplasm (latitude and longitude), and one of them had significantly associated with genetic diversity. Although the factors affecting the antioxidant activity of coixan are complex, the role of heredity should not be ignored. Our findings have implications for the scientific evaluation, identification and sustainable utilization of Job’s tears germplasm resources.

Adlay, an ancient functional plant with nutritional quality, improves human health

“…Simultaneously, new tillers grow at the base of old stems and develop into fertile branches. Directed breeding to improve and utilize wild genetic resources to achieve target traits has become a breeding goal to accelerate the accumulation of good genes and cultivate new adlay varieties ( 23 ). The inheritance of color, texture, beak and longitudinal stripes of coix involucre is controlled by one to two pairs of alleles and characterized by gene interaction, gene overlap, and partial segregation inheritance, which can be used as important marker traits for coix genetic improvement ( 19 ).…”