Breeding red clover for specific environments

Including marker-by-environment interactions improves genomic prediction in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.).

by Esther Ravelhofer-Alge
Bild Red Clover

In this study, the potential of genomic prediction in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) was evaluated using field trial data from five European locations. Three genomic prediction models (single environment, SingleEnv; across environment, AcrossEnv; and marker-by-environment interaction, MxE) were compared for their ability to predict traits such as annual dry matter yield, crude protein content and date of flowering. The MxE model consistently performed best while the AcrossEnv model yielded lowest prediction abilities. The genomic predictions reported here highlight the potential benefits of incorporating MxE interaction in multi-environment trials and could have perspectives for identifying markers with effects that are stable across environments.

This work was carried out in the framework of the Horizon 2020 EUCLEG project (external page www.eucleg.eu) and in close collaboration with Agroscope.

Citation:
Skøt L, Nay MM, Grieder C, Frey LA, Pégard M, Öhlund L, Amdahl H, Radovic J, Jaluvka L, Palmé A, Ruttink T, Lloyd D, Howarth CJ and Kölliker R (2024) Including marker x environment interactions improves genomic prediction in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). Frontiers in Plant Science 15, 1407609. 
external page https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1407609

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