Heritability and genetic gains for iron and zinc concentration in diploid potato

Abstract

A main breeding target of the International Potato Center (CIP) has been the biofortification of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with the essential micronutrients iron and zinc. This study assessed the broad-sense heritability (H2) and genetic gains (ΔGs) achieved for iron and zinc concentrations in potato tubers and their relationships with yield components through three cycles of recurrent selection at the diploid level. Sixty genotypes comprising 17 Andean landraces from a base population called Cycle 0, 21 genotypes from Cycle II, and 22 from Cycle III were grown in field trials over 2 yr to compare micronutrient concentrations and agronomic performance. The effects of cycles and cycles × location interactions were both significant (P