Main and epistatic QTL analyses for Sclerotinia Head Rot resistance in sunflower

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 20;12(12):e0189859. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189859. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Sclerotinia Head Rot (SHR), a disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is one of the most limiting factors in sunflower production. In this study, we identified genomic loci associated with resistance to SHR to support the development of assisted breeding strategies. We genotyped 114 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) along with their parental lines (PAC2 -partially resistant-and RHA266 -susceptible-) by using a 384 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Illumina Oligo Pool Assay to saturate a sunflower genetic map. Subsequently, we tested these lines for SHR resistance using assisted inoculations with S. sclerotiorum ascospores. We also conducted a randomized complete-block assays with three replicates to visually score disease incidence (DI), disease severity (DS), disease intensity (DInt) and incubation period (IP) through four field trials (2010-2014). We finally assessed main effect quantitative trait loci (M-QTLs) and epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) by composite interval mapping (CIM) and mixed-model-based composite interval mapping (MCIM), respectively. As a result of this study, the improved map incorporates 61 new SNPs over candidate genes. We detected a broad range of narrow sense heritability (h2) values (1.86-59.9%) as well as 36 M-QTLs and 13 E-QTLs along 14 linkage groups (LGs). On LG1, LG10, and LG15, we repeatedly detected QTLs across field trials; which emphasizes their putative effectiveness against SHR. In all selected variables, most of the identified QTLs showed high determination coefficients, associated with moderate to high heritability values. Using markers shared with previous Sclerotinia resistance studies, we compared the QTL locations in LG1, LG2, LG8, LG10, LG11, LG15 and LG16. This study constitutes the largest report of QTLs for SHR resistance in sunflower. Further studies focusing on the regions in LG1, LG10, and LG15 harboring the detected QTLs are necessary to identify causal alleles and contribute to unraveling the complex genetic basis governing the resistance.

MeSH terms

  • Ascomycota / physiology*
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Disease Resistance / genetics*
  • Epistasis, Genetic*
  • Genetic Linkage
  • Genetic Markers
  • Genotype
  • Helianthus / genetics*
  • Helianthus / microbiology*
  • Inbreeding
  • Phenotype
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics
  • Quantitative Trait Loci / genetics*

Substances

  • Genetic Markers

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (PNBIO-1131042, 1131043) and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica (PICT 2011 1365; PICT 2014 0701; PICT 2015 1799), and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional y Desarrollo (D/016099/08; D/024562/09). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.