Comparisons of quantitative trait locus mapping properties between two methods of recombinant inbred line development

Theoretical comparisons for quantitativetrait loci (QTL) mapping properties wereconducted among simulated recombinantinbred (RI) populations developed bysingle-hill (SH), complete bulk, and singleseed descent (SSD) procedures by MonteCarlo simulations based on variouspopulation sizes, heritabilities, and QTLeffects. Our simulations includedestimation of QTL effects, QTL positions,and statistical testing power in the RIpopulations by comparing the estimates withpreset values. The simulation resultsshowed that the single hill (SH) bulk andsingle seed descent RI populations weregenerally not significantly different withrespect to quality of estimated QTL effectsand positions. Furthermore, when each RIpopulation had 150 lines, each couldprovide desirable properties for QTLmapping. The results implied that a SH RIpopulation consisting of 75 or moreF₂-derived families with two lines perfamily (corresponding population size of150 or above) was appropriate for QTLmapping and was not significantly differentthan a SSD RI population of 150. Thus, theSH method could be used to develop largenumbers of RI lines for achieving betterresults in QTL mapping. Simulations alsoshowed that there was no significantdifference between means using SH methodswith 10 and 100 fruits per family. However, RI populations developed by thecomplete bulk method where F₂identities are lost were not suitable forQTL mapping.