Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling the Development of Prickles in Eggplant by Genome Re-sequencing Analysis

Zongwei Qian; Bin Zhang; Haili Chen; Lei Lu; Mengqi Duan; Jun Zhou; Yanling Cui; Dayong Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.731079

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling the Development of Prickles in Eggplant by Genome Re-sequencing Analysis

Front Plant Sci. 2021 Sep 8:12:731079. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.731079. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zongwei Qian^{1

2

3}, Bin Zhang^{1

2

3}, Haili Chen^{1

2

3}, Lei Lu⁴, Mengqi Duan⁵, Jun Zhou⁶, Yanling Cui^{1

2

3}, Dayong Li^{1

2

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Beijing, China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Vegetable Germplasm Improvement, Beijing, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the P. R. China, Beijing, China.
⁴ College of Life Science and Technology, Jining Normal University, Ulanqab, China.
⁵ Turf Research Institute, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
⁶ College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is the third most important crop in the family of Solanaceae. Prickles are considered as the undesirable traits during the plantation of eggplant and the transportation of fruits. In this study, we constructed a high-quality genetic linkage Bin map derived from the re-sequencing analysis on a cross of a prickly wild landrace, 17C01, and a cultivated variety, 17C02. The major quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling the development of prickles on the calyx (explained 30.42% of the phenotypic variation), named as qPC.12, was identified on a ~7 kb region on chromosome 12. A gene within qPC.12, which encodes a WUSCHEL-related homeobox-like protein, with higher expression levels in 17C01 calyx and 22-bp deletion in 17C02 was probably the functional gene for prickle formation. Results from this study would ultimately facilitate uncovering the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying the development of a prickle in eggplant.

Keywords: QTL mapping; WUSCHEL-related homeobox protein; calyx; eggplant; prickle.