Abstract
Key message
Mapping of QTLs for dorsal aleurone thickness (DAT) was performed using chromosome segment substitution lines in rice. Three QTLs, qDAT3.1, qDAT3.2, and qDAT7.1, were detected in multiple environments.
Abstract
As a specified endosperm cell type, the aleurone has an abundance of various nutrients. Increasing the number of aleurone layers is a practicable way of developing highly nutritious cereals. Identifying genes that can increase aleurone thickness is useful for the breeding of aleurone traits to improve the nutritional and health values of rice. Here, we found that iodine staining could efficiently distinguish the aleurone layers, which revealed great variation of the aleurone thickness in rice, especially at the dorsal side of the seed. Therefore, we used a population of chromosome segmental substitution lines (CSSLs) derived from Koshihikari and Nona Bokra for quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of the dorsal aleurone thickness (DAT). Three QTLs, qDAT3.1, qDAT3.2, and qDAT7.1, were detected in multiple seasons. Among these, qDAT3.2 colocalizes with Hd6 and Hd16, two QTLs previously identified to regulate the heading date of Koshihikari, explaining the negative correlation between the DAT and days to heading (DTH) in rice. We also provide evidence that early-heading ensures the filling of rice seed under a relatively high temperature to promote aleurone thickening. qDAT7.1, the most stable QTL expressed in different environments, functions independently from heading date. Although Nona Bokra has a lower DAT, its qDAT7.1 allele significantly increased DAT in rice, which was further validated using two near-isogenic lines (NILs). These findings pave the way for further gene cloning of aleurone-related QTLs and may aid the development of highly nutritious rice.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Prof. Hong-Xuan Lin of Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, CAS, for providing the CSSL population.
Funding
This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32170344), the Jiangsu Province Government (JBGS[2021]001), the Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province (NY-142), and the Independent Scientific Research Project Funds of the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding (PLR202101).
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CC conceived the project and wrote the manuscript. CC and JPG designed the research. YX, SC, MX, XC, ZL, and XW performed the experiments. XW and CC analyzed the data.
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Xu, Y., Chen, S., Xue, M. et al. Mapping and validation of quantitative trait loci associated with dorsal aleurone thickness in rice (Oryza sativa). Theor Appl Genet 136, 117 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04368-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04368-0