Molecular mapping and candidate gene identification of two major quantitative trait loci associated with silique length in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Lei Chen; Wangfei He; Yulin Yu; Yifan Wang; Xueyang Zhai; Xinxiang Ling; Pan Lu; Xinxin Cheng; Weixia Lei; Zhixiong Fan

doi:10.1007/s11032-024-01464-x

Molecular mapping and candidate gene identification of two major quantitative trait loci associated with silique length in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Mol Breed. 2024 Mar 19;44(4):26. doi: 10.1007/s11032-024-01464-x. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Authors

Lei Chen^#¹, Wangfei He^#¹, Yulin Yu¹, Yifan Wang¹, Xueyang Zhai¹, Xinxiang Ling¹, Pan Lu¹, Xinxin Cheng¹, Weixia Lei², Zhixiong Fan²

Affiliations

¹ College of Agriculture, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang, 233100 China.
² Crop Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230031 China.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 38516204
PMCID: PMC10951173 (available on 2025-03-19)
DOI: 10.1007/s11032-024-01464-x

Abstract

Rapeseed is a significant global source of plant oil. Silique size, particularly silique length (SL), impacts rapeseed yield. SL is a typical quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes. In our previous study, we constructed a DH population of 178 families known as the 158A-SGDH population. In this study, through SL QTL mapping, we identified twenty-six QTL for SL across five replicates in two environments. A QTL meta-analysis revealed eight consensus QTL, including two major QTL: cqSL.A02-1 (11.32-16.44% of PVE for SL), and cqSL.C06-1 (10.90-11.95% of PVE for SL). Based on biparental resequencing data and microcollinearity analysis of target regions in Brassica napus and Arabidopsis, we identified 11 candidate genes at cqSL.A02-1 and 6 candidate genes at cqSL.C06-1, which are potentially associated with silique development. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis of silique valves from both parents on the 14th, 21st, and 28th days after pollination (DAP) combined with gene function annotation revealed three significantly differentially expressed genes at cqSL.A02-1, BnaA02G0058500ZS, BnaA02G0060100ZS, and BnaA02G0060900ZS. Only the gene BnaC06G0283800ZS showed significant differences in parental transcription at cqSL.C06-1. Two tightly linked insertion-deletion markers for the cqSL.A02-1 and cqSL.C06-1 loci were developed. Using these two QTL, we generated four combinations: A02^SGDH284C06^158A, A02^SGDH284C06^SGDH284, A02^158AC06^158A, and A02^158AC06^SGDH284. Subsequent analysis identified an ideal QTL combination, A02^158AC06^SGDH284, which exhibited the longest SL of this type, reaching 6.06 ± 0.10 cm, significantly surpassing the other three combinations. The results will provide the basis for the cloning of SL-related genes of rapeseed, along with the development of functional markers of target genes and the breeding of rapeseed varieties.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-024-01464-x.

Keywords: Double haploid; Mapping; Quantitative trait locus; Rapeseed; Silique length.

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