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A molecular map of the apomixis-control locus in Paspalum procurrens and its comparative analysis with other species of Paspalum

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Abstract

Since apomixis was first mapped in Paspalum, the absence of recombination that characterizes the related locus appeared to be the most difficult bottleneck to overcome for the dissection of the genetic determinants that control this trait. An approach to break the block of recombination was developed in this genus through an among-species comparative mapping strategy. A new apomictic species, P. procurrens (Q4094) was crossed with a sexual plant of P. simplex and their progeny was classified for reproductive mode with the aid of morphological, embryological and genetic analyses. On this progeny, a set of heterologous rice RFLP markers strictly co-segregating in coupling phase with apomixis was identified. These markers were all located on the telomeric region of the long arm of the chromosome 12 of rice. In spite of the lack of recombination exhibited by the apomixis-linked markers in P. procurrens, a comparative mapping analysis among P. simplex, P. malacophyllum, P. notatum and P. procurrens, allowed us to identify a small group of markers co-segregating with apomixis in all these species. These markers bracketed a chromosome region that likely contains all the genetic determinants of apomictic reproduction in Paspalum. The implications of this new inter-specific approach for overcoming the block of recombination to isolate the genetic determinants of apomixis and gain a better comprehension of genome structure of apomictic chromosome region are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Mrs. Florencia Galdeano and Mr. Marco Guaragno for their technical assistance. This work was supported by the Italian Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Direzione Generale per la Promozione e la Cooperazione Culturale (L401/1990) in the frame of the project “Isolation of genetic determinants of apomixis in Paspalum simplex” (bilateral agreement Italy–Argentina, 2006–2007), the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), Argentina, PICT N 13578 and PAV 137/3, and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina (CONICET), PIP 11220080101378. DH Hojsgaard received a fellowship from CONICET. We thank Dr. T. Sasaki, the Japanese Rice Genome Research Program of the National Institute of Agrobiological Resources (NIAR), and the Institute of the Society of Techno-Innovation in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (STAFF), Tsukuba, Japan, for providing the rice probes. Contribution No. 364 from CNR-IGV Perugia.

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  1. CNR-Institute for Plant Genetics, Research Division of Perugia, Via della Madonna alta 130, 06128, Perugia, Italy

    D. H. Hojsgaard & F. Pupilli

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (IBONE), Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE), Sargento Cabral 2131, 3400, Corrientes, Argentina

    D. H. Hojsgaard, E. J. Martínez, C. A. Acuña & C. L. Quarin

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  1. D. H. Hojsgaard
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  2. E. J. Martínez
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  3. C. A. Acuña
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  4. C. L. Quarin
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  5. F. Pupilli
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Correspondence to F. Pupilli.

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Communicated by P. Langridge.

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Hojsgaard, D.H., Martínez, E.J., Acuña, C.A. et al. A molecular map of the apomixis-control locus in Paspalum procurrens and its comparative analysis with other species of Paspalum . Theor Appl Genet 123, 959–971 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-011-1639-z

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