Linkage and association mapping of ovule number per ovary (ON) in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Ali Ahmad; Wenhui Li; Hui Zhang; Hao Wang; Pengfei Wang; Yushun Jiao; Chenqi Zhao; Guangsheng Yang; Dengfeng Hong

doi:10.1007/s11032-023-01355-7

Linkage and association mapping of ovule number per ovary (ON) in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Mol Breed. 2023 Feb 8;43(2):11. doi: 10.1007/s11032-023-01355-7. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Ali Ahmad¹, Wenhui Li¹, Hui Zhang¹, Hao Wang¹, Pengfei Wang¹, Yushun Jiao¹, Chenqi Zhao¹, Guangsheng Yang^{1

2}, Dengfeng Hong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 People's Republic of China.
² Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070 People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Ovule number (ON) produced during flower development determines the maximum number of seeds per silique and thereby affects crop productivity; however, the genetic basis of ON remains poorly understood in oilseed rape (Brassica napus). In this study, we genetically dissected the ON variations in a double haploid (DH) population and in natural population (NP) by linkage mapping and genome-wide association analysis. Phenotypic analysis showed that ON displayed normal distribution in both populations with the broad-sense heritability of 0.861 (DH population) and 0.930 (natural population). Linkage mapping identified 5 QTLs related to ON, including qON-A03, qON-A07, qON-A07-2, qON-A10, and qON-C06. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) revealed 214, 48, and 40 significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by individually using the single-locus model GLM and the multiple-locus model MrMLM and FASTMrMLM. The phenotypic variation explained (PVE) by these QTLs and SNPs ranged from 2.00-17.40% to 5.03-7.33%, respectively. Integration of the results from both strategies identified four consensus genomic regions associated with ON from the chromosomes A03, A07, and A10. Our results preliminarily resolved the genetic basis of ON and provides useful molecular markers for plant yield improvement in B. napus.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-023-01355-7.

Keywords: Brassica napus; Double haploid; Genome-wide association study; Linkage mapping; Ovule number; QTLs.

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