Transgressive segregation due to linked QTLs for grain characteristics of rice

Summary It has been theoretically proposed that multiple linked quantitative trait loci (QTLs) play a role in the accumulation of hidden variation within and between populations. In this study, the genetic bases for grain characteristics were examined by comparing two accessions representing the two rice subspecies by QTL analysis. Grain dimensions are known to be quantitative traits and to be diagnostic between these two subspecies. To enhance the power to detect QTL with small effects, after transferring a segment of chromosome 6 from an Indica type into a Japonica type of rice by repeated backcrosses, the introgressed segment was dissected by making recombinant inbred lines (RILs) which were expected to have different sizes of the introgressed segment in the same genetic background. The resulting RILs showed distinct transgression of the grain characteristics examined. Multiple QTLs controlling each of the length and breadth of seeds were detected on the introgressed segment, and showed positive and negative additive effects as well as epistatic interactions. The present study confirmed that transgressive segregation resulted from a breakdown of linkage and that the detection of QTLs was highly dependent upon the genetic effects of the neighboring QTLs, indicating the need for caution in interpreting QTL effects.