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Association of gene-linked SSR markers to seed glucosinolate content in oilseed rape (Brassica napus ssp. napus)

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Abstract

Breeding of oilseed rape (Brassica napus ssp. napus) has evoked a strong bottleneck selection towards double-low (00) seed quality with zero erucic acid and low seed glucosinolate content. The resulting reduction of genetic variability in elite 00-quality oilseed rape is particularly relevant with regard to the development of genetically diverse heterotic pools for hybrid breeding. In contrast, B. napus genotypes containing high levels of erucic acid and seed glucosinolates (++ quality) represent a comparatively genetically divergent source of germplasm. Seed glucosinolate content is a complex quantitative trait, however, meaning that the introgression of novel germplasm from this gene pool requires recurrent backcrossing to avoid linkage drag for high glucosinolate content. Molecular markers for key low-glucosinolate alleles could potentially improve the selection process. The aim of this study was to identify potentially gene-linked markers for important seed glucosinolate loci via structure-based allele-trait association studies in genetically diverse B. napus genotypes. The analyses included a set of new simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers whose orthologs in Arabidopsis thaliana are physically closely linked to promising candidate genes for glucosinolate biosynthesis. We found evidence that four genes involved in the biosynthesis of indole, aliphatic and aromatic glucosinolates might be associated with known quantitative trait loci for total seed glucosinolate content in B. napus. Markers linked to homoeologous loci of these genes in the paleopolyploid B. napus genome were found to be associated with a significant effect on the seed glucosinolate content. This example shows the potential of Arabidopsis-Brassica comparative genome analysis for synteny-based identification of gene-linked SSR markers that can potentially be used in marker-assisted selection for an important trait in oilseed rape.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Fatih Seyis, Wilfried Lühs, and KWS Saat AG for providing seed material for this study. We also thank Liane Renno and Petra Degen for valuable technical assistance. Some of the SSR primers were kindly provided by Wolfgang Ecke, University of Göttingen, and Jörg Schondelmaier, SaatenUnion Resistenzlabor GmbH, Leopoldshöhe. Genome-wide SSR data for the 46 winter rapeseed genotypes genotypes was made available by KWS Saat, SaatenUnion Resistenzlabor and SW Seed GmbH as part of the BMBF-funded project GABI-BRIDGE. We thank two anonymous reviewers and the subject editor for constructive comments that led to considerable improvements in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Breeding, Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    M. Hasan, W. Friedt, N. M. Freitag, K. Link & R. J. Snowdon

  2. Department of Biometry and Population Genetics, Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    J. Pons-Kühnemann

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  1. M. Hasan
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  6. R. J. Snowdon
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Correspondence to R. J. Snowdon.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Sillanpää.

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122_2008_733_MOESM1_ESM.xls

Supplementary Table 1. PCR primers for twelve new simple sequence repeat (SSR) sequences whose othologs in Arabidopsis thaliana are closely physically linked to glucosinolate biosynthesis genes. Five of the primer combinations amplify SSR loci in Brassica napus that were found to be significantly associated (P ≤ 0.05) with total seed glucosinolate content. (XLS 15 kb)

122_2008_733_MOESM2_ESM.xls

Supplementary Table 2. Allelic data for SSR markers showing significant allele-trait association to total seed glucosinolate content in two sets of genetically diverse B. napus genotypes: (a) 94 genetically diverse gene bank accessions; (b) 46 genetically diverse winter rapeseed cultivars and breeding lines. Cells with a green background indicate the presence of the marker allele in the particular genotype. Markers are sorted from left (low) to right (high) based on the mean total seed glucosinolate content of all genotypes containing the given marker allele, while each of the two sets of genotypes is also sorted in ascending order according to the mean total seed glucosinolate content. Hence the green cells in the above left corner of each table represent marker alleles associated with very low glucosinolate content, while the green cells at the bottom right of each table represent marker alleles associated with very high glucosinolate content. (XLS 95 kb)

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Hasan, M., Friedt, W., Pons-Kühnemann, J. et al. Association of gene-linked SSR markers to seed glucosinolate content in oilseed rape (Brassica napus ssp. napus). Theor Appl Genet 116, 1035–1049 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-008-0733-3

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