New quantitative trait loci for enhancing adaptation to salinity in rice from Hasawi,a Saudi landrace into three African cultivars at the reproductive stage

Salinity is a major constraint affecting rice productivity in rainfed and irrigated agro-ecosystems. Understanding salinity effects on rice production at the reproductive stage could improve adaptation for this trait. Identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling adaptation to salinity may also accelerate breeding rice germplasm for environments prone to this stress. We used the salt tolerant landrace ‘Hasawi’ as a donor parent to generate three F₂ offspring (consisting each of 500 individuals) with three African cultivars (‘NERICA-L-19’, ‘Sahel 108’ and ‘BG90-2’) used as recipient parents (RP). The F₂s and F_2:3s were evaluated for grain yield and other traits in saline fields. Salinity caused reduction in all measured traits across the F₂-derived offspring, e.g. grain yield reduced between 65 and 73 %, but some offspring had twice the RP’s grain yield. QTL analysis revealed 75 QTLs for different traits in all 3 genetic backgrounds (GBs): 24 of them were common among all the 3 GBs while 31 were noted in 2 GBs, and 17 in one GB. ‘Hasawi’ contributed on average 49 % alleles to these QTLs. Two yield and yield related QTLs (qGY11 and qTN11) common in all 3 GBs were mapped on the same chromosomal segment suggesting these QTLs might be stable across different GBs. Four other QTLs were strongly associated with salinity tolerance with peak marker RM419, representing a potential candidate for MAS due to high LOD score and relatively large effect QTLs.     

Evaluation of several selection procedures for predicting yield performance of progenies in two populations of cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.)

Average, combined and specific indices involving lint yield and its components “seeds per boll” and “lint per seed” were computed for two populations of cotton (Gossypium barbadense) evaluated in two seasons. All indices were constructed to maximize advance in “lint yield”. Indices were evaluated as to their usefulness in identifying high yielding genotypes. Within the limits of this experiment it was shown that:

1. 1.
   Specific indices were superior to yield as criteria for selection in both predicted and actual gains.     
   
   

Further QTL mapping for yield component traits using introgression lines in rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.) under drought field environments

To better understand the underlying mechanisms of agronomic traits related to drought resistance and discover candidate genes or chromosome segments for drought-tolerant rice breeding, a fundamental introgression population, BC₃, derived from the backcross of local upland rice cv. Haogelao (donor parent) and super yield lowland rice cv. Shennong265 (recurrent parent) had been constructed before 2006. Previous quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping results using 180 and 94 BC₃F_6,7 rice introgression lines (ILs) with 187 and 130 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for agronomy and physiology traits under drought in the field have been reported in 2009 and 2012, respectively. In this report, we conducted further QTL mapping for grain yield component traits under water-stressed (WS) and well-watered (WW) field conditions during 3 years (2012, 2013 and 2014). We used 62 SSR markers, 41 of which were newly screened, and 492 BC₄F_2,4 core lines derived from the fourth backcross between D123, an elite drought-tolerant IL (BC₃F₇), and Shennong265. Under WS conditions, a total of 19 QTLs were detected, all of which were associated with the new SSRs. Each QTL was only identified in 1 year and one site except for qPL-12-1 and qPL-5, which additively increased panicle length under drought stress. qPL-12-1 was detected in 2013 between new marker RM1337 and old marker RM3455 (34.39 cM) and was a major QTL with high reliability and 15.36% phenotypic variance. qPL-5 was a minor QTL detected in 2013 and 2014 between new marker RM5693 and old marker RM3476. Two QTLs for plant height (qPHL-3-1 and qPHP-12) were detected under both WS and WW conditions in 1 year and one site. qPHL-3-1, a major QTL from Shennong265 for decreasing plant height of leaf located on chromosome 3 between two new markers, explained 22.57% of phenotypic variation with high reliability under WS conditions. On the contrary, qPHP-12 was a minor QTL for increasing plant height of panicle from Haogelao on chromosome 12. Except for these two QTLs, all other 17 QTLs mapped under WS conditions were not mapped under WW conditions; thus, they were all related to drought tolerance. Thirteen QTLs mapped from Haogelao under WS conditions showed improved drought tolerance. However, a major QTL for delayed heading date from Shennong265, qDHD-12, enhanced drought tolerance, was located on chromosome 12 between new marker RM1337 and old marker RM3455 (11.11 cM), explained 21.84% of phenotypic variance and showed a negative additive effect (shortening delay days under WS compared with WW). Importantly, chromosome 12 was enriched with seven QTLs, five of which, including major qDHD-12, congregated near new marker RM1337. In addition, four of the seven QTLs improved drought resistance and were located between RM1337 and RM3455, including three minor QTLs from Haogelao for thousand kernel weight, tiller number and panicle length, respectively, and the major QTL qDHD-12 from Shennong265. These results strongly suggested that the newly screened RM1337 marker may be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in drought-tolerant rice breeding and that there is a pleiotropic gene or cluster of genes linked to drought tolerance. Another major QTL (qTKW-1-2) for increasing thousand kernel weight from Haogelao was also identified under WW conditions. These results are helpful for MAS in rice breeding and drought-resistant gene cloning.     

High-density genetic map construction and QTL mapping for fiber strength on Chr24 across multiple environments in a CCRI70 recombinant inbred lines population

Upland cotton is an important economic crop that produces high-quality fiber for the textile industry. With the development of next-generation sequencing technology and improvements in human living standards, it has become possible to improve the fiber quality and yield of cotton with high-throughput molecular markers. Upland cotton 901-001 is an excellent, high-quality, non-transgenic cultivar, while the sGK156 strain shows high resistance to verticillium wilt. The phenotype of F₁ plants, certified in 2008 as national variety CCRI70, shows positive transgressive characteristics such as high quality, high yield, and resistance to verticillium wilt. We developed a population of 250 recombination inbred lines from a cross between 901-001 and sGK156. The fiber strength trait of plants from nine environments was collected, and a genetic linkage map of Chr24 comprising 168 SNP marker loci covering a genetic distance of 107.46 cM and with an average distance of 0.64 cM was generated. QTLs were identified across the nine environments using the composite interval mapping method. A total of eight QTLs for FS were identified on Chr24, three of which were stably expressed in at least five environments. Some candidate genes located in qFS-c24-2 and qFS-c24-4 were functionally annotated as potentially playing important roles in fiber development, with homologous genes reported in Arabidopsis thaliana. These results suggest that QTLs identified in the present study could contribute to improving FS and may be applicable for marker-assisted selection.     

Identification of quantitative trait loci across interspecific F2, F2:3 and testcross populations for agronomic and fiber traits in tetraploid cotton

The most widely grown tetraploid Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense differ greatly in yield potential and fiber quality and numerous quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been reported. However, correspondence of QTLs between experiments and populations is poor due to limited number of markers, small population size and inaccurate phenotyping. The purpose of the present study was to map QTLs for yield, yield components and fiber quality traits using testcross progenies between a large interspecific F₂ population and a commercial cotton cultivar as the tester. The results were compared to these from its F₂ and F_2:3 progenies. Of the 177 QTLs identified from the three populations, 65 fiber QTLs and 51 yield QTLs were unique with an average of 8–12 QTLs per traits. All the 26 chromosomes carried QTLs, but differed in the number of QTLs and the number of QTLs between fiber and yield QTLs. The congruence of QTLs identified across populations was higher (20–60 %) for traits with higher heritabilities including fiber quality, seed index and lint percentage, but lower (10–25 %) for lower heritability traits-seedcotton and lint yields. Major QTLs, QTL clusters for the same traits and QTL ‘hotspots’ for different traits were also identified. This research represents the first report using a testcross population in QTL mapping in interspecific cotton crosses and provides useful information for further comparative analysis and marker-assisted selection.     

Mapping the BrPur gene for purple leaf color on linkage group A03 of Brassica rapa

The purple-leaf phenotype in Chinese cabbage is due to the accumulation of anthocyanin. To investigate the pattern of inheritance of this trait in Brassica rapa, F₁, F₂ and backcross (BC) populations were constructed by crossing 09N-742, a pak-choi inbred line that has purple leaves, with a green-leaved Chinese cabbage inbred line, 09-680. Using a segregating F₂ population, we identified a single dominant gene, BrPur, for purple leaf, and mapped the gene to a locus on linkage group A03 of B. rapa. Furthermore, sequences from BAC clones and other sources were used to develop molecular marker loci that are tightly linked to BrPur by using a BC₁ population of 1,152 individuals. BrPur was assigned to a locus between Indel markers BVRCPI613 and BVRCPI431, which defined a genetic interval of 0.6 cM and a genomic region of 54.87 kb. Sequence analysis of this chromosomal region revealed seven open reading frames. These results provide a foundation for map-based cloning, identification, and functional analysis of the BrPur gene in B. rapa.     

Characterization and mapping of a QTL derived from Solanum habrochaites associated with elevated rutin content (quercetin-3-rutinoside) in tomato

Consumption of flavonoids found in fruits and vegetables is linked to beneficial health outcomes. Tomato is among the most widely consumed and economically important vegetables worldwide and improvement of the nutrient content could lead to significant health benefits. Rutin, (quercetin-3-rutinoside), the main flavonol in tomato fruit, is confined to the peel. Rutin synthesis is limited by low expression of chalcone isomerase, the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of naringenin chalcone to naringenin quercetin. The wild tomato species Solanum habrochaites is a major source of new alleles to improve cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center identified introgression line (IL) LA3984 containing a segment of S. habrochaites on chromosome 5 expressing high levels of rutin in full red ripe fruit. An AVRDC high rutin tomato line evaluated for 2 years and two seasons in Taiwan produced mean rutin content about four- to five-fold greater than the mean of all entries and about 11–12 times higher than the commercial fresh market and processing tomato cultivars. The quantitative trait locus (QTL) conditioning high rutin content was mapped to a 0.42 Mb segment on chromosome 5 flanked by markers c2_At3g55120/TaqI and ch05-4.883/ApaLI. Marker c2_Atg55120 overlaps with the chalcone-flavonone isomerase gene Solyc05g10320, and a second chalcone-flavonone isomerase gene is located 3,000 bp upstream from c2_At3g551220. Results of this project will facilitate breeding of high flavonoid tomato lines.     

Introgression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L. into Upland cotton germplasm RMBUP-C4S1

Gossypium barbadense L. cotton has significantly better fiber quality than Upland cotton (G. hirsutum L.); however, yield and environmental adaptation of G. barbadense is not as wide as Upland. Most cotton in the world is planted to Upland cultivars. Many attempts have been made, over a considerable number of years, to introgress fiber quality alleles from G. barbadense into Upland. However, introgression barriers, primarily in the form of interspecific incompatibility, have limited these traditional approaches. The use of chromosome substitution lines (CSL) as a bridge should provide a more efficient way to introgress alleles from G. barbadense into Upland. We crossed 18 G. barbadense CSL to three cultivars and developed a random mated population. After five cycles of random mating followed by one generation of self-pollination to increase the seed supply, we grew the random mated population and used 139 G. barbadense chromosome specific SSR markers to assess a random sample of 96 plants for introgression. We recovered 121 of 139 marker loci among the 96 plants. The distribution of the G. barbadense alleles ranged from 10 to 28 alleles in each plant. Among the 96 plants we found individual plants with marker loci from 6 to 14 chromosomes or chromosome arms. Identity by descent showed little relatedness among plants and no population structure was indicated by a heat map. Using CSL we were able to develop a mostly Upland random mated population with considerable introgression of G. barbadense alleles which should be useful for breeding.     

陆地棉遗传图谱构建及产量和纤维品质性状QTL定位

利用3 458对SSR引物筛选陆地棉中棉所35和渝棉1号间的多态性引物, 获得173对。以多态性引物检测(渝棉1号×中棉所35)F₂群体180个单株的标记基因型, 共获得178个标记位点。构建的遗传连锁图谱包括148个标记, 36个连锁群, 总长1 309.2 cM, 标记间平均距离8.8 cM, 覆盖棉花基因组的29.5%。36个连锁群中的28个分别被定位于20条染色体, 8个连锁群未定位于染色体。以渝棉1号×中棉所35的F₂、F_2:3群体的产量、纤维品质性状鉴定结果, 利用区间作图方法, 检测到4个产量性状QTL, 即2个衣分(LP)、1个铃重(BW)、1个籽指(SD); 5个纤维品质性状QTL, 即1个纤维长度(FL)、2个纤维比强度(FS)和2个纤维细度(FF)。LP1、BW、SD、FL和FS1被定位于第7染色体, LP2、FS2、FF1和FF2被分别位于第15、21、9和20染色体。5个纤维品质QTL的有利等位基因均来源于渝棉1号。     

Whitebacked planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Homoptera: Delphacidae) resistance in rice variety Sinna Sivappu

Whitebacked planthopper (WBPH) along with brown planthopper (BPH) has emerged as a major pest of rice in several Asian countries. Development and cultivation of varieties resistant to both planthoppers is an ecologically acceptable strategy to manage these pests. Sinna Sivappu, a Sri Lankan landrace, was reported to be resistant to both planthoppers. While inheritance of BPH resistance has been reported, the genetics of WBPH resistance in this variety is not known. Using a mapping population of 255 F_2:3 families from Taichung Native (TN)1/Sinna Sivappu cross and 128 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, genes or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for WBPH resistance quantified in ten phenotypic tests were identified, adopting classical Mendelian segregation, correlation and QTL analyses. The inheritance pattern suggested that a single recessive gene controlled regulation of seedling damage score. Antixenosis or nymphal preference was influenced by two complementary recessive genes, whereas tolerance in terms of days to wilt was under the influence of a single dominant gene. Several of these phenotypic tests recorded high degree of positive or negative correlation between them, suggesting dependence or redundancy of the tests. QTL analysis revealed 13 loci associated with nine traits. Five major-effect QTLs were detected for damage score (chromosome 6), nymphal survival (chromosome 12), and days to wilt (three QTLs on chromosome 4). We suggest involvement of four WBPH resistance genes in Sinna Sivappu, designated as wbph9(t), wbph10(t), wbph11(t), and Wbph12(t). One of the recessive genes could be allelic to any of the recessive genes reported in cluster C on chromosome 6 which might confer resistance to both BPH and WBPH.     

Broadening the genetic base of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> canola by interspecific crosses with different variants of <Emphasis Type="Italic">B. oleracea</Emphasis>

Broadening the genetic base of the C genome of Brassica napus canola by use of B. oleracea is important. In this study, the prospect of developing B. napus canola lines from B. napus?×?B. oleracea var. alboglabra, botrytis, italica and capitata crosses and the effect of backcrossing the F₁’s to B. napus were investigated. The efficiency of the production of the F₁’s varied depending on the B. oleracea variant used in the cross. Fertility of the F₁ plants was low—produced, on average, about 0.7 F₂ seeds per self-pollination and similar number of BC₁ seeds on backcrossing to B. napus. The F₃ population showed greater fertility than the BC₁F₂; however, this difference diminished with the advancement of generation. The advanced generation populations, whether derived from F₂ or BC₁, showed similar fertility and produced similar size silique with similar number of seeds per silique. Progeny of all F₁’s and BC₁’s stabilized into B. napus, although B. oleracea plant was expected, especially in the progeny of F₁ (ACC) owing to elimination of the A chromosomes during meiosis. Segregation distortion for erucic acid alleles occurred in both F₂ and BC₁ resulting significantly fewer zero-erucic plants than expected; however, plants with?≤?15% erucic acid frequently yielded zero-erucic progeny. No consistent correlation between parent and progeny generation was found for seed glucosinolate content; however, selection for this trait was effective and B. napus canola lines were obtained from all crosses. Silique length showed positive correlation with seed set; the advanced generation populations, whether derived from F₂ or BC₁, were similar for these traits. SSR marker analysis showed that genetically diverse canola lines can be developed by using different variants of B. oleracea in B. napus?×?B. oleracea interspecific crosses.     

Inheritance and genetic mapping of a gene for seedling resistance to powdery mildew in wheat line X3986-2

Identification and mapping new powdery mildew resistance (Pm) genes is important for resistance breeding in wheat. Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) line X3986-2 was tested against 27 isolates of Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici. To identify the Pm gene(s) in X3986-2, an F₂ population and its derived F_2:3 lines were developed from a cross between X3986-2 and susceptible line Mingxian169. Segregation ratios indicated the presence of a single dominant Pm locus, tentatively designated PmX3986-2. Bulked segregant analysis was applied to screen for molecular markers linked to PmX3986-2. Two sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers SCAR112 and SCAR203, and five simple sequence repeat markers CFD40, CFD78, CFD81, GWM293 and WMC443 on chromosome 5D were linked to PmX3986-2, with CFD81 and SCAR112 flanking PmX3986-2 at 0.6 and 1.5 cM, respectively. This suggests that PmX3986-2 may be a novel allele of loci Pm2, Pm46 and PmLX66 on chromosome arm 5DS. PmX3986-2 with its tightly linked DNA markers should be useful for broadening the genetic basis of Pm and rapidly transferring the resistance gene to susceptible cultivars or for us in gene pyramiding for resistance breeding.     

Comparison and development of EST–SSRs from two 454 sequencing libraries of Gossypium barbadense

EST–SSRs of Gossypium barbadense are mainly developed using traditional Sanger sequencing. However, due to the high cost and low throughput of Sanger sequencing, it is necessary to use high throughput sequencing technology for the development of more ESTs to more effectively analyze the structure and function of this species. In this study, a G. barbadense acc. 3–79 unnormalized fiber cDNA library (219.63 Mb) and a G. barbadense cv. Hai7124 normalized root cDNA library (204.61 Mb) were obtained by 454 sequencing. EST–SSRs were identified from the two libraries, and only 7,255 SSRs were obtained from the unnormalized library, with an average frequency of 1/31.00 kb. In contrast, 16,087 SSRs were obtained from the normalized library, with an average frequency of 1/13.02 kb. The frequencies of dinucleotides and tetranucleotides in the two libraries were very different. Comparing the two libraries, we found that a normalized cDNA library is more efficient for mining SSRs. Integrating the two libraries allowed the development of 1,129 EST–SSR markers, and 311 polymorphic loci were integrated into our interspecific BC₁ genetic linkage map. The mapping results showed that the distribution of EST–SSRs on sub-genomes and chromosomes was uneven; however, the distribution of the mapped G. barbadense EST–SSRs on homologous chromosomes was similar, with the exception of Chr05 versus Chr19 and Chr12 versus Chr26. This study provided new EST–SSR markers that will facilitate studies on cotton genetics and breeding.     

Marker assisted backcrossing for introgression of Fusarium wilt resistance gene into melon

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis is a common vascular wilt fungal disease in melon across the world. The resistance gene to race 1 of this causal agent, Fom-2, has been previously cloned and its sequence is available. The objective of this research was the introgression of Fom-2 from one resistant (Isabelle) genotype into two susceptible cultivars (Garmak and Tile-torogh) via marker assisted backcrossing. First, the leucine-rich repeats (LRR) domain of Fom-2 from resistant and susceptible genotypes was sequenced to develop functional markers. A length of 1274 bp of the 3′ end of this gene was isolated, cloned and sequenced. The difference between resistant and susceptible genotypes in this region was 28 nucleotide substitutions. Two allele specific primer pairs, Fom2-R409 and Fom2-S253, were designed based on nucleotide substitutions to amplify resistant and susceptible alleles, respectively. For introgression of the gene, donor (Isabelle) and recurrent (Garmak and Tile-torogh) parents were crossed. Resistant plants in BC₁F₁ and BC₂F₁ generations were first detected using artificial pathogen inoculation and later the plants were genotyped by functional markers to validate their resistance. The resistant plants were also selected phenotypically in each generation for background genome recovery, which conduced to high similarity of BC₃ generation with the recurrent parents. It was proved the developed markers are more precise and efficient than inoculation trial and could be used as confident tools for screening of resistant melon genotypes to Fusarium wilt.     

Development and application of PCR markers specific to the 1Ns chromosome of Psathyrostachys huashanica Keng with leaf rust resistance

Wheat–Psathyrostachys huashanica Keng disomic addition line 12-3 was developed and characterized using genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), expressed sequence tag–sequence tagged site (EST–STS), and sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. Mitotic and meiotic GISH analyses indicated that it contained 42 wheat chromosomes and a pair of P. huashanica chromosomes. Eight EST–STS multiple-loci markers located on the homoeologous group 1 chromosomes of wheat amplified polymorphic bands in the 1Ns disomic addition line 12-3, which were unique to P. huashanica. These markers suggested that the introduced Ns chromosomes belonged to homoeologous group 1. Furthermore, diagnostic fragments of random amplified polymorphic DNA marker OPAG10₉₈₆ and simple sequence repeat marker Xgwm601 ₁₃₅ were cloned, sequenced, and converted into SCAR markers, i.e., RHS153 and SHS10, respectively, which were validated using a range of distinct plant species and a complete set of wheat–P. huashanica disomic addition lines (1Ns–7Ns, 2n = 44 = 22 II). The results demonstrated that the SCAR markers targeted the Ns genome of P. huashanica and they were linked to the 1Ns chromosome. In addition, 12-3 was evaluated to test its leaf rust resistance in the adult stages and its agronomic traits. These newly developed EST–STS and SCAR markers will be powerful tools for wheat breeders who want to screen for genotypes containing the 1Ns chromosome, with low costs and high throughput.     

Commonality analysis and selection of parents for within-boll yield components in upland cotton

Relationships between lint yield and within-boll yield components are important for genetic improvement of lint yield in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars. F₂ plants derived from crosses between germplasm lines and high yielding cultivars were analyzed to determine the contributions of within-boll yield components to lint yield and to select parents with desirable combining ability for multiple within-boll yield components. Forty-five F₂ hybrids were planted at two field sites in 2010 and 2011 with 4 and 3 replicates, respectively. There were a total of six yield components analyzed including lint percentage (LP), seed number per boll, lint weight per seed (LW_S), seed surface area per seed, lint weight per unit seed surface area (LW_SA), and lint number per unit seed surface area (LN_SA). The contributions of these yield components to lint yield were analyzed by commonality analysis that separated the contributions to lint yield into the unique contributions of single yield components and the common contributions of the single yield components with one or more other yield components. The unique contributions of the six yield components to lint yield ranged from 1.6 to 21 % of total variation for lint yield in the 2-year experiments. The greatest common contributions to lint yield among all combinations of the six yield components were identified for a combination of four components, LP, LW_S, LW_SA, and LN_SA with 67 and 44 % of the total variation of lint yield in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Results suggest that all four of these yield components should be considered simultaneously in breeding for genetic improvement of lint yield. The germplasm line SP225 was detected as a good combiner with positive general combining ability (GCA) for LP (1.4 %), LW_SA (0.03 mg mm^?2), and LN_SA (14.3 no mm^?2), and favorable GCA for fineness (?3.1 mg km^?1).     

Genetic effects of introgression genomic components from Sea Island cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis> L.) on fiber related traits in upland cotton (<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>. <Emphasis Type="Italic">hirsutum</Emphasis> L.)

The germplasm with exotic genomic components especially from Sea Island cotton (Gossypium barbadense L. Gb) is the dominant genetic resources to enhance fiber quality of upland cotton (G. hirsutum L., Gh). Due to low efficiency of phenotypic evaluation and selection on fiber quality, genetic dissection of favorable alleles using molecular markers is essential. Genetic dissection on putative Gb introgressions related to fiber traits were conducted by SSR markers with mapping populations derived from a cross between Luyuan343 (LY343), a superior fiber quality introgression line (IL) with genomic components from Gb, and an elite Upland cotton cv. Lumianyan#22 (LMY22). Among 82 polymorphic loci screened out from 4050 SSRs, 42 were identified as putative introgression alleles. A total of 29 fiber-related QTLs (23 for fiber quality and six for lint percentage) were detected and most of which clustered on the putative Gb introgression chromosomal segments of Chr.2, Chr.16, Chr.23 and Chr.25. As expected, a majority of favorable alleles of fiber quality QTLs (12/17, not considering the QTLs for fiber fineness) came from the IL parent and most of which (11/12) were conferred by the introgression genomic components while three of the six (3/6) favorable alleles for lint percentage came from the Gh parent. Validation of these QTLs using an F₈ breeding population from the same cross made previously indicated that 13 out of 29 QTLs showed considerable stability. The results suggest that fiber quality improvement using the introgression components could be facilitated by marker-assisted selection in cotton breeding program.     

Quantitative trait locus analysis for days-to-heading and morphological traits in an RIL population derived from an extremely late flowering F<Subscript>1</Subscript> hybrid of sorghum

The hybrid vigor typical of F₁ cultivars is used to boost biomass production of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). The high dry-matter yielding F₁ cultivar Kazetachi uniquely shows extremely late flowering and a long culm, and is greatly different from its parents. We investigated the genetic mechanisms underlying these phenotypes by quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of recombinant inbred lines derived from a male-fertile line and a restorer line and grown in 3 years. QTL analysis for six traits (days-to-heading, culm length, culm width, culm number, panicle length, panicle number) revealed that the unique phenotypes of the F₁ plants were controlled by the genetic combination of 12 or more QTLs detected in at least 2 years. Two putative QTLs for days-to-heading (qDH1 on SBI-01 and qDH6 on SBI-06) would strongly affect the other phenotypes because of their co-localization with QTLs for other traits, as supported by significant phenotypic correlations. These QTLs would be useful for understanding the association of plant type with biomass production in sorghum.     

Morphological and molecular characterization of the second backcross progenies of Ogu-CMS Chinese kale and rapeseed

Ogura cytoplasmic male sterility (Ogu-CMS) is widely used in the production of commercial hybrids of Brassica oleracea. However, the widespread application of the Ogu-CMS system in B. oleracea has hindered the germplasm innovation of Ogu-CMS resources due to the lack of a natural restorer line. Previously, the Ogu-CMS fertility-restored interspecific hybrids between rapeseed 15Y403 (2n = 38, AACC) and Chinese kale JL1 (2n = 18, CC) have been successfully produced. However, these progenies, which still contained a large proportion of rapeseed genomic components, showed poor fertility and a low seed setting rate under natural pollination. To improve fertility and seed setting, a successive backcross with JL1 was performed to produce BC₂ progenies. Screening with the Rfo-specific marker, five individuals harboring the Rfo gene were identified among 98 BC₂ progenies. These five individuals underwent background marker screening and an evaluation of agronomic traits and fertility. One individual (code: 15Q23) was identified with higher pollen viability, better seed setting under natural pollination, and a closer genetic background to the parent Chinese kale JL1. Many morphological traits showed no significant differences (P < 0.05) between 15Q23 and the backcross parent JL1. However, the average seed setting of 15Q23 under natural pollination was 0.72 seeds per pod, which was 50 times higher than that of BC₁ progenies, and the average pollen viability was 87.07%, which was significantly better than that of the F₁ and BC₁ plants (P < 0.01). The genetic background of 15Q23 was more closer to the parent JL1 than that of BC₁ plants and another BC₂ fertility-restored individual, with 82% of the polymorphic alleles being the same as those of the parent Chinese kale JL1. Thus, the individual 15Q23 could be used as a donor plant for further backcrosses. This study lays the foundation for the development of Ogu-CMS restorer material in B. oleracea.