Investigation and genetic mapping of a Glomerella leaf spot resistance locus in apple

Apple Glomerella leaf spot (GLS) is a severe fungal disease that damages apple leaves during the summer in China. Breeding new apple varieties that are resistant to the disease is considered the best way of controlling GLS. Fine mapping and tightly linked marker are critically essential for the preselection of resistant seedlings. In this study, a population of 207 F₁ individuals derived from a cross between ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Fuji’ was used to construct a fine simple sequence repeat (SSR)‐based genetic linkage map. The position of R_gls, a locus responsible for resistance to GLS, was identified on apple linkage group (LG) 15 using SSR markers CH05g05 and CH01d08, which was adapted from a published set of 300 SSR markers that were developed using the bulked segregant analysis (BSA) method. These two SSR markers flanked the gene, and its recombination rate was 8.7% and 23.2%, respectively. A total of 276 newly developed SSR markers around the target region and designed from the genome apple assembly contig of LG15 were screened. Only nine of these were determined to be linked to the R_gls locus. Thus, a total of 11 SSR markers were in linkage with R_gls, and mapped at distances ranging from 0.5 to 33.8 cM. The closest marker to the R_gls locus was S0405127, which showed a genetic distance of approximately 0.5 cM. The first mapping of the gene R_gls was constructed, and the locations of the 11 effective primers in the ‘Golden Delicious’ apple genome sequence were anchored. This result facilitates better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the trait of resistance to GLS and could be used in improving the breeding efficiency of GLS‐resistant apple varieties.     

Mapping and validation of the quantitative trait loci for leaf stay‐green‐associated parameters in maize

Functional stay‐green is generally regarded as a desirable trait of varieties in major crops including maize. In this study, we used an F_3:4 recombinant inbred line population with 165 lines from a cross between a stay‐green inbred line (Zheng58) and a model inbred line (B73) using 211 polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers to map quantitative trait loci for three stay‐green‐associated parameters, chlorophyll content, photosystem II photochemical efficiency and stay‐green area, at maturity stage, detected a total of 23 quantitative trait loci (QTL) on nine chromosomes. Single QTL explained 3.7–13.5% of the phenotypic variance. Additionally, we validated some important stay‐green QTL using a heterogeneous inbred family approach and found that the stay‐green‐associated parameters were significantly correlated with the plant yield. This study may contribute to a better insight into the regulatory mechanism behind leaf stay‐green in maize and a novel development of elite maize varieties with delayed leaf senescence through molecular marker‐assisted selection.     

小麦茎秆断裂强度相关性状QTL的连锁和关联分析

小麦茎秆断裂强度与倒伏特性关系密切,并对产量有很大影响。本研究旨在解析茎秆断裂强度的遗传机制,开发与该性状紧密连锁/关联的分子标记。利用山农01-35′藁城9411重组自交系(RIL)群体(含173个F8:9株系)和由205个品种(系)构成的自然群体,借助90 k小麦SNP基因芯片、DArT芯片及传统分子标记技术,在2个环境中对两群体的茎秆断裂强度相关性状进行连锁分析和全基因组关联分析。利用已构建的高密度连锁图谱,在4B染色体的TDURUM_CONTIG63670_287–IACX557和EX_C101685–RAC875_C27536等区段上,检测到9个控制小麦茎秆断裂强度、株高、茎秆第2节间充实度、茎秆第2节壁厚相关性状的加性QTL,可解释表型变异9.40%~36.30%。同时,利用包含24 355个SNP位点的复合遗传图谱,在自然群体中检测到37个与茎秆断裂强度相关性状(P0.0001)的标记,分别位于1A、1B、2B、2D、3A、3B、4A、4B、5A、5B、5D、6B、7A、7B和7D染色体,可解释表型变异7.76%~36.36%。在4B染色体上,以连锁分析检测到控制茎秆断裂强度的RAC875_C27536与关联分析检测到的Tdurum_contig4974_355标记,在复合遗传图谱上的距离为6.7 cM,说明该区段存在控制小麦茎秆断裂强度的重要基因。     

胡萝卜根中主要类胡萝卜素含量相关QTL的精细定位

以白色的野生胡萝卜‘松滋野生’(Ws)和橘色的栽培胡萝卜品种‘Amsterdam’(Af)为亲本构建的回交重组自交系(BIL)为试材,基于低倍重测序技术开发SNP标记,构建了由1 976个Bin标记组成,包含29 435个SNP标记的遗传图谱。图谱总距离834.28 c M,平均图距0.42 c M。通过对胡萝卜肉质根中类胡萝卜素含量相关QTL分析,在连锁群LG04和LG08中检测到调控α–胡萝卜素、β–胡萝卜素、ζ–胡萝卜素、叶黄素、玉米黄质和总类胡萝卜素含量的主效QTL(M-QTL)2、2、3、2、2和2个,表型贡献率为11.47%~19.18%;另检测到调控α–胡萝卜素、β–胡萝卜素、ζ–胡萝卜素、玉米黄质和总类胡萝卜素含量的上位性QTL(E-QTL)1、1、2、1和1个,表型贡献率为2.50%~3.66%。在M-QTL显著区间内共检索到36个有功能注释的预测基因,其中Dck018297为ζ–胡萝卜素脱氢酶2基因,与调控β–胡萝卜素合成和总类胡萝卜素含量有关;Dck008006为乙烯响应因子2.2的同源基因,与调控α–胡萝卜素、ζ–胡萝卜素合成有关;Dck029898为转录因子b HLH135的同源基因,与调控玉米黄质合成有关。     

大豆籽粒蛋白质含量相关QTL定位研究进展

籽粒蛋白质含量是大豆品质性状改良的主要目标之一。笔者介绍了大豆遗传图谱的构建与基因组测序发展历程,从基于分离群体的连锁分析和基于自然群体的关联分析两方面阐述了大豆籽粒蛋白质含量QTL定位研究进展,进而讨论了大豆蛋白质含量MAS育种存在的问题,最后展望了大豆蛋白质含量分子遗传改良的研究趋势。以期为大豆高蛋白育种提供参考。     

Bio‐physical models of marine environments reveal biases in the representation of protected areas

1. The significant shortfall in global marine protection targets is likely to continue to drive rapid growth in marine protected areas (MPAs). Systematic conservation planning to fill gaps in marine protection requires sufficient knowledge of both the distribution of biodiversity and the threats to species and ecosystems. Yet such data are lacking for much of the marine environment, creating significant challenges for planning effective marine protection.
2. In the absence of habitat mapping data, critical environmental variables associated with species' distributions can be used to model the spatial distribution of different environments. Although this approach has been used in some jurisdictions to assist MPA planners, the increased availability and resolution of spatial data now provide an opportunity to improve assessments of MPA representation.
3. Capitalizing on advances in spatial data, this study uses a range of biological and physical environmental attributes to model the distribution of Australian marine environments. Given many Australian MPAs were implemented without knowledge of the distribution of species and benthic habitats, this Bio‐physical model is used to assess MPA coverage and equality of protection for Australian marine environments.
4. Results of the Bio‐physical model revealed that Australian MPAs overrepresent warm, offshore waters (such as the Coral Sea) and underrepresent temperate environments. Furthermore, the distribution of protection in Australian MPAs is heavily skewed, with no‐take protection disproportionately targeting tropical environments, leaving major gaps in the protection of both temperate and nearshore habitats.
5. Without comprehensive habitat mapping, the representativeness and adequacy of an MPA system cannot be accurately evaluated, nor can the required expansion of MPAs be planned effectively. In the interim, the biological and physical attributes chosen for this model provide useful proxies to assist in efforts to better target current and future protection based on the most up‐to‐date knowledge.

     

水稻半外卷叶突变体sol1的表型分析与基因定位

适度卷曲有利于提高水稻叶片的光合效率,增加植株光合产物的有效积累量。我们利用甲基磺酸乙酯(EMS)处理籼型水稻保持系西农1B,获得一个稳定遗传的水稻半外卷叶突变体。该突变体从十叶期开始各叶片逐渐向外卷曲直至半卷状,并伴随茎秆半矮化和叶片披垂,暂被命名为semi-outcurved leaf 1(sol1)。与野生型(WT)相比,sol1的叶片卷曲指数均达到30%以上(P<0.01);倒一、倒二、倒三、倒四节节间长度和穗长极显著缩短,倒一、倒二、倒三叶的叶夹角显著或极显著增加;有效穗数、千粒重、每穗实粒数、结实率显著或极显著下降,一次枝梗数则增加11.3%(P<0.05)。sol1的蒸腾速率、胞间CO2浓度、气孔导度显著高于野生型。石蜡切片显示,sol1倒一叶的泡状细胞体积变小,数量显著增多,表皮细胞体积略微增大。遗传分析表明,sol1的半外卷叶性状受1对隐性核基因调控,定位于6号染色体标记JY6-3和JY6-10之间165 kb的物理范围内,共含15个注释基因。qRT-PCR结果表明,与泡状细胞相关的内卷基因和外卷叶基因RL14、Roc5、REL1在突变体sol1中呈不同程度的上调,NRL、BRD1、OsHox32、ADL1、LC2则呈不同程度的下调。研究结果为SOL1基因的克隆和功能研究奠定了基础。     

Genomewide association study reveals novel quantitative trait loci associated with resistance towards Septoria tritici blotch in North European winter wheat

Fungal diseases are a major constraint for wheat production. Effective disease resistance is essential for ensuring a high production quality and yield. One of the most severe fungal diseases of wheat is Septoria tritici blotch (STB), which influences wheat production across the world. In this study, genomewide association mapping was used to identify new chromosomal regions on the wheat genome conferring effective resistance towards STB. A winter wheat population of 164 North European varieties and breeding lines was genotyped with 15K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) wheat array. The varieties were evaluated for STB in field trials at three locations in Denmark and across 3 years. The association analysis revealed four quantitative trait loci, on chromosomes 1B, 2A, 5D and 7A, highly associated with STB resistance. By comparing varieties containing several quantitative trait loci (QTL) with varieties containing none of the found QTL, a significant difference was found in the mean disease score. This indicates that an effective resistance can be obtained by pyramiding several QTL.