Our immediate purpose was to screen a large set of peanut samples
from the national peanut improvement program, in order to
investigate the extent of genotypic variation and genotype-byenvironment
(G E) interaction affecting essential mineral composition,
and thereby explore the breeding potential for phenotypes
with high kernel concentrations of important elements.
Only conventional, non-transgenic techniques are used for peanut
breeding in Australia, so traits can only arise from naturally-occurring
variation in the breeding population. Appropriate germplasm
and adequate genotypic variation are therefore critical to the
breeding strategy. An understanding of the G E interaction is also
essential, as this describes the stability of trait expression in different
growing environments. The results for the genotypic study are
presented in this article, while investigations into the G E interaction
have been published separately (Phan-Thien, Wright, & Lee,
2010).