Genome-wide association studies and genomic selection assays made in a large sample of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) germplasm reveal significant marker-trait associations and good predictive value for improving yield potential

A genome-wide association study was undertaken to unravel marker-trait associations (MTAs) between SNP markers and yield-related traits. It involved a subset of 421 cacao accessions from the large and diverse collection conserved ex situ at the International Cocoa Genebank Trinidad. An average linkage disequilibrium (r2) of 0.10 at 5.2 Mb was found across several chromosomes. Seventeen significant (P [≤] 8.17 x 10-5 (-log10 (p) = 4.088)) MTAs of interest, which accounted for 5 to 17% of the explained phenotypic variation, were identified using a Mixed Linear Model in TASSEL version 5.2.50. The most significant MTAs identified were related to seed number and seed length on chromosome 7 and seed number on chromosome 1. Other significant MTAs involved seed length to width ratio on chromosomes 3 and 5 and seed length on chromosomes 4 and 9. It was noteworthy that several yield-related traits, viz., seed length, seed length to width ratio and seed number were associated with markers on different chromosomes, indicating their polygenic nature. Approximately 40 candidate genes that encode embryo and seed development, protein synthesis, carbohydrate transport and lipid biosynthesis and transport were identified in this study. A significant association of fruit surface anthocyanin intensity co-localised with MYB-related protein 308 on chromosome 4. Testing of a genomic selection approach revealed good predictive value (GEBV) for economic traits such as seed number (GEBV = 0.611), seed length (0.6199), seed width (0.5435), seed length to width ratio (0.5503), seed/cotyledon mass (0.6014) and ovule number (0.6325). The findings of this study could facilitate genomic selection and marker-assisted breeding of cacao thereby expediting improvement in the yield potential of cacao planting material.