Cui Min, Jia Bo, Liu Huanhuan, Kan Xin, Zhang Yu, Zhou Ronghua, Li Zhipeng, Yang Liang, Deng Dexiang, Yin Zhitong
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou UniversityYangzhou, China.
Huaiyin Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Xuhuai Region in JiangsuHuai'an, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2017 Aug 18;8:1437. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01437. eCollection 2017.
The leaf number above the primary ear (LA) is a major contributing factor to plant architecture in maize. The yield of leafy maize, which has extra LA compared to normal maize, is higher than normal maize in some regions. One major concern is that increasing LA may be accompanied by increased plant height and/or flowering time. Using an F population comprising 192 families derived from a leafy maize line and a normal maize line, an association population comprising 437 inbred maize lines, and a pair of near-isogenic maize lines, we mapped the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with LA and assessed its genetic relationship with flowering time and plant height. Ten QTL with an additive and dominant effect, 18 pairs of interacting QTL in the F population and seventeen significant SNPs in the association population were detected for LA. Two major QTL, and , were repeatedly detected and explained a large proportion of the phenotypic variation. The was centered on , which is a dominant gene underlying extra leaves above the ear in leafy maize. Four LA QTL were found to overlap with flowering time and/or plant height, which suggested that these QTL might have a pleiotropic effect. The pleiotropy of the locus on LA, flowering time and plant height were validated by near-isogenic line analysis. These results enhance our understanding of the genetic architecture affecting maize LA and the development of maize hybrids with increased LA.
穗位叶以上叶数（LA）是影响玉米株型的主要因素。与普通玉米相比，具有额外穗位叶以上叶数的多叶玉米在一些地区产量高于普通玉米。一个主要担忧是，增加穗位叶以上叶数可能伴随着株高增加和/或开花时间延长。利用一个由192个家系组成的F群体（来源于一个多叶玉米自交系和一个普通玉米自交系）、一个由437个玉米自交系组成的关联群体以及一对近等基因玉米系，我们定位了与穗位叶以上叶数相关的数量性状位点（QTL），并评估了其与开花时间和株高的遗传关系。在F群体中检测到10个具有加性和显性效应的QTL、18对互作QTL，在关联群体中检测到17个与穗位叶以上叶数显著相关的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）。两个主要QTL， 和 ，被重复检测到，并解释了很大一部分表型变异。 以 为中心， 是多叶玉米穗位以上额外叶片的一个显性基因。发现4个穗位叶以上叶数QTL与开花时间和/或株高重叠，这表明这些QTL可能具有多效性。通过近等基因系分析验证了 位点在穗位叶以上叶数、开花时间和株高上的多效性。这些结果加深了我们对影响玉米穗位叶以上叶数的遗传结构的理解，以及对具有增加穗位叶以上叶数的玉米杂交种的培育。
