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QTL-seq identifies an early flowering QTL located near Flowering Locus T in cucumber

Theoretical and Applied Genetics volume 127, pages 1491–1499 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Key message

Next-generation sequencing enabled a fast discovery of a major QTL controlling early flowering in cucumber, corresponding to the FT gene conditioning flowering time in Arabidopsis.

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing technologies are making it faster and more efficient to establish the association of agronomic traits with molecular markers or candidate genes, which is the requirement for marker-assisted selection in molecular breeding. Early flowering is an important agronomic trait in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), but the underlying genetic mechanism is unknown. In this study, we identified a candidate gene for early flowering QTL, Ef1.1 through QTL-seq. Segregation analysis in F2 and BC1 populations derived from a cross between two inbred lines “Muromskij” (early flowering) and “9930” (late flowering) suggested quantitative nature of flowering time in cucumber. Genome-wide comparison of SNP profiles between the early and late-flowering bulks constructed from F2 plants identified a major QTL, designated Ef1.1 on cucumber chromosome 1 for early flowering in Muromskij, which was confirmed by microsatellite marker-based classical QTL mapping in the F2 population. Joint QTL-seq and traditional QTL analysis delimited Ef1.1 to an 890 kb genomic region. A cucumber gene, Csa1G651710, was identified in this region, which is a homolog of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), the main flowering switch gene in Arabidopsis. Quantitative RT-PCR study of the expression level of Csa1G651710 revealed significantly higher expression in early flowering genotypes. Data presented here provide support for Csa1G651710 as a possible candidate gene for early flowering in the cucumber line Muromskij.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC: 31225025), the National Program on Key Basic Research Projects in China (The 973 Program: 2012CB113900), the National High Tech Research Development Program in China (The 863 Program: 2010AA10A108, 2012AA100101), and the Chinese Ministry of Finance (1251610601001).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

The experiments in this study comply with the current laws of China.

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Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops of Ministry of Agriculture, Sino-Dutch Joint Lab of Horticultural Genomics, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, CAAS, Beijing, 100081, China

    Hongfeng Lu, Tao Lin, Joël Klein, Shenhao Wang, Jianjian Qi, Qian Zhou, Jinjing Sun, Zhonghua Zhang & Sanwen Huang

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Plant Science, Wageningen University, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Joël Klein

  3. Vegetable Crops Research Unit, Department of Horticulture, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), ARS, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Yiqun Weng

Authors
  1. Hongfeng Lu
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  2. Tao Lin
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  3. Joël Klein
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  4. Shenhao Wang
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  5. Jianjian Qi
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  6. Qian Zhou
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  7. Jinjing Sun
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  8. Zhonghua Zhang
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  9. Yiqun Weng
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  10. Sanwen Huang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanwen Huang.

Additional information

H. Lu and T. Lin contributed equally.

Communicated by M. J. Havey.

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Lu, H., Lin, T., Klein, J. et al. QTL-seq identifies an early flowering QTL located near Flowering Locus T in cucumber. Theor Appl Genet 127, 1491–1499 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2313-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2313-z

Keywords

  • Quantitative Trait Locus
  • Flowering Time
  • Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis
  • Quantitative Trait Locus Mapping
  • Early Flowering