Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 2 Xudong 2nd Road, Wuhan 430062, China.
Centre d'Etude Régional Pour l'Amélioration de l'Adaptation à la Sécheresse (CERAAS), Route de Khombole, Thiès, Thiès Escale Thiès BP3320, Senegal.
Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Sep 17;19(9):2794. doi: 10.3390/ijms19092794.
Sesame is poised to become a major oilseed crop owing to its high oil quality and adaptation to various ecological areas. However, the seed yield of sesame is very low and the underlying genetic basis is still elusive. Here, we performed genome-wide association studies of 39 seed yield-related traits categorized into five major trait groups, in three different environments, using 705 diverse lines. Extensive variation was observed for the traits with capsule size, capsule number and seed size-related traits, found to be highly correlated with seed yield indexes. In total, 646 loci were significantly associated with the 39 traits ( < 10) and resolved to 547 quantitative trait loci QTLs. We identified six multi-environment QTLs and 76 pleiotropic QTLs associated with two to five different traits. By analyzing the candidate genes for the assayed traits, we retrieved 48 potential genes containing significant functional loci. Several homologs of these candidate genes in are described to be involved in seed or biomass formation. However, we also identified novel candidate genes, such as and , which may control capsule length and capsule number traits. Altogether, we provided the highly-anticipated basis for research on genetics and functional genomics towards seed yield improvement in sesame.
芝麻由于其高油品质和适应各种生态区域的特点，有望成为主要的油料作物。然而，芝麻的种子产量非常低，其潜在的遗传基础仍难以捉摸。在这里，我们使用 705 个不同的品系，在三个不同的环境中，对 39 个与种子产量相关的性状进行了全基因组关联研究，这些性状分为五个主要性状组。观察到性状的广泛变化，包括荚果大小、荚果数量和种子大小相关的性状，这些性状与种子产量指标高度相关。总共，646 个位点与 39 个性状（ < 10）显著相关，并解析为 547 个数量性状位点 QTLs。我们鉴定了六个多环境 QTLs 和 76 个多效性 QTLs，这些 QTLs与两个到五个不同的性状相关。通过分析测定性状的候选基因，我们检索到 48 个包含显著功能位点的潜在基因。这些候选基因在中的同源物被描述为参与种子或生物量形成。然而，我们也鉴定了一些新的候选基因，如 和 ，它们可能控制荚果长度和荚果数量性状。总的来说，我们为芝麻种子产量改良的遗传和功能基因组学研究提供了备受期待的基础。
