Zhao Mei, Zhang Jibin, Yang Chuxuan, Cui Zhenhua, Chen Longqing
College of Landscape and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Mar 8;12(6):1221. doi: 10.3390/plants12061221.
The lotus ( Adans.) is one of the most economically relevant ornamental aquatic plants. Plant architecture (PA) is an important trait for lotus classification, cultivation, breeding, and applications. However, the underlying genetic and molecular basis controlling PA remains poorly understood. In this study, an association study for PA-related traits was performed with 93 genome-wide microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeat, SSR) and 51 insertion-deletion (InDel) markers derived from the candidate regions using a panel of 293 lotus accessions. Phenotypic data analysis of the five PA-related traits revealed a wide normal distribution and high heritability from 2013 to 2016, which indicated that lotus PA-related traits are highly polygenic traits. The population structure (Q-matrix) and the relative kinships (K-matrix) of the association panels were analyzed using 93 SSR markers. The mixed linear model (MLM) taking Q-matrix and K-matrix into account was used to estimate the association between markers and the traits. A total of 26 markers and 65 marker-trait associations were identified by considering associations with < 0.001 and Q < 0.05. Based on the significant markers, two QTLs on Chromosome 1 were identified, and two candidate genes were preliminarily determined. The results of our study provided useful information for the lotus breeding aiming at different PA phenotypes using a molecular-assisted selection (MAS) method and also laid the foundation for the illustration of the molecular mechanism underlying the major QTL and key markers associated with lotus PA.
莲（睡莲科莲属）是经济价值最高的观赏水生植物之一。植株形态是莲分类、栽培、育种及应用的重要性状。然而，控制植株形态的潜在遗传和分子基础仍知之甚少。本研究利用293份莲种质资源，采用93个全基因组微卫星标记（简单序列重复，SSR）和51个来自候选区域的插入缺失（InDel）标记，对与植株形态相关的性状进行了关联分析。对2013年至2016年5个与植株形态相关性状的表型数据分析显示，这些性状呈广泛的正态分布且遗传力高，这表明莲与植株形态相关的性状是高度多基因控制的性状。利用93个SSR标记分析了关联群体的群体结构（Q矩阵）和相对亲缘关系（K矩阵）。采用考虑Q矩阵和K矩阵的混合线性模型（MLM）来估计标记与性状之间的关联。通过考虑关联显著性P<0.001和Q<0.05，共鉴定出26个标记和65个标记-性状关联。基于显著标记，在第1号染色体上鉴定出2个QTL，并初步确定了2个候选基因。本研究结果为利用分子辅助选择（MAS）方法针对不同植株形态表型的莲育种提供了有用信息，也为阐明与莲植株形态相关的主要QTL和关键标记的分子机制奠定了基础。
