QTL analysis of early stage heterosis for biomass in Arabidopsis

Theor Appl Genet. 2010 Jan;120(2):227-37. doi: 10.1007/s00122-009-1074-6.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to identify genomic regions involved in biomass heterosis using QTL, generation means, and mode-of-inheritance classification analyses. In a modified North Carolina Design III we backcrossed 429 recombinant inbred line and 140 introgression line populations to the two parental accessions, C24 and Col-0, whose F (1) hybrid exhibited 44% heterosis for biomass. Mid-parent heterosis in the RILs ranged from -31 to 99% for dry weight and from -58 to 143% for leaf area. We detected ten genomic positions involved in biomass heterosis at an early developmental stage, individually explaining between 2.4 and 15.7% of the phenotypic variation. While overdominant gene action was prevalent in heterotic QTL, our results suggest that a combination of dominance, overdominance and epistasis is involved in biomass heterosis in this Arabidopsis cross.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Biomass
  • Genome, Plant
  • Hybrid Vigor*
  • Inbreeding
  • Phenotype
  • Quantitative Trait Loci*