Abstract
To understand the types of gene action controlling seven quantitative traits in rice, we carried out quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in order to distinguish between the main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) and digenic epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) responsible for the trait performance of 254 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from rice varieties Lemont/Teqing and two backcross hybrid (BCF1) populations derived from these RILs. We identified 44 M-QTL and 95 E-QTL pairs in the RI and BCF1 populations as having significant effects on the mean values and mid-parental heterosis of heading date, plant height, flag leaf length, flag leaf width, panicle length, spikelet number and spikelet fertility. The E-QTLs detected collectively explained a larger portion of the total phenotypic variation than the M-QTLs in both the RI and BCF1 populations. In both BCF1 populations, over-dominant (or under-dominant) loci were more important than additive and complete or partially dominant loci for M-QTLs and E-QTL pairs, thereby supporting prior findings that overdominance resulting from epistatic loci are the primary genetic basis of inbreeding depression and heterosis in rice.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. S. D. Tanksley and S. McCouch of Cornell University, and the Japanese Rice Genome Research Program for providing us with DNA probes. We are very grateful for the invaluable comments and suggestions on the earlier version of the manuscript from Dr. David Mackill and two anonymous reviewers. This research was supported by grants from the China National Natural Science Foundation, Chinese Ministry Agriculture, Shanghai Natural Science Foundation, and by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
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Mei, H.W., Li, Z.K., Shu, Q.Y. et al. Gene actions of QTLs affecting several agronomic traits resolved in a recombinant inbred rice population and two backcross populations. Theor Appl Genet 110, 649–659 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1890-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1890-7