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QTLs mapping of morphological traits related to salt tolerance in Medicago truncatula

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Abstract

To understand the complex inheritance of tolerance to salt stress in Medicago truncatula, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) analysis was performed using a set of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the tolerant line Jemalong A17 and susceptible line F83005.5. The RILs and parental lines were grown in individual pots filled with sterilized sand in a greenhouse under 0 and 50 mM NaCl. Plants were harvested after a period of 60 days. Fourteen quantitative traits related to aerial and root growths were measured. Broad-sense heritability of measured traits ranged from 0.21 to 0.83 and from 0.05 to 0.62 in control and in salt-stressed conditions, respectively. Established correlations between measured traits are dependent on treatment effect. We identified and mapped 10 QTLs in control conditions and 19 in salt stress. No major QTL was identified indicating that tolerance to salt stress is governed by several genes with low effects. The QTLs detected under control and under salt-stressed conditions almost did not share the same map locations suggesting that the loci that are not stable across treatments reflect adaptation to this constraint. The maximum of QTLs was observed on the chromosome 8. The usefulness of these QTLs, identified in greenhouse conditions, for marker-assisted selection should therefore be evaluated under field conditions, and validated in other genetic backgrounds.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Thouraya Sbouri and Zeineb Alaya for technical assistance in the greenhouse. We are also grateful to Michèle Ghérardi for RILs of LR5 population genotyping, Wael Taamalli for useful discussion, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. Financial support of this research work was provided by the FP6 European Grain Legume Integrated Project, and by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and the Scientific Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Legumes, Centre of Biotechnology of Borj Cedria, B.P. 901, Hammam-Lif, 2050, Tunisia

    Soumaya Arraouadi & Mounawer Badri

  2. Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, UMR1318, INRA-AgroParisTech, Route de St Cyr, 14, 78026, Versailles, France

    Fabien Chardon

  3. Laboratoire de Symbiose et Pathologie des Plantes, INP-ENSAT, B.P. 107, 31326, Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France

    Thierry Huguet

  4. NEPAD/North Africa Biosciences Network, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St, Cairo, 12311, Egypt

    Mohamed Elarbi Aouani

Authors
  1. Soumaya Arraouadi
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  2. Fabien Chardon
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  3. Thierry Huguet
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  4. Mohamed Elarbi Aouani
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  5. Mounawer Badri
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Correspondence to Mounawer Badri.

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Communicated by L. A. Kleczkowski.

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Arraouadi, S., Chardon, F., Huguet, T. et al. QTLs mapping of morphological traits related to salt tolerance in Medicago truncatula . Acta Physiol Plant 33, 917–926 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0621-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0621-8

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