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Genetic dissection of seed weight by QTL analysis and detection of allelic variation in Indian and east European gene pool lines of Brassica juncea

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Abstract

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Seed weight QTL identified in different populations were synthesized into consensus QTL which were shown to harbor candidate genes by in silico mapping. Allelic variation inferred would be useful in breeding B. juncea lines with high seed weight.

Abstract

Seed weight is an important yield influencing trait in oilseed Brassicas and is a multigenic trait. Among the oilseed Brassicas, Brassica juncea harbors the maximum phenotypic variation wherein thousand seed weight varies from around 2.0 g to more than 7.0 g. In this study, we have undertaken quantitative trait locus/quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of seed weight in B. juncea using four bi-parental doubled-haploid populations. These four populations were derived from six lines (three Indian and three east European lines) with parental phenotypic values for thousand seed weight ranging from 2.0 to 7.6 g in different environments. Multi-environment QTL analysis of the four populations identified a total of 65 QTL ranging from 10 to 25 in each population. Meta-analysis of these component QTL of the four populations identified six ‘consensus’ QTL (C-QTL) in A3, A7, A10 and B3 by merging 33 of the 65 component Tsw QTL from different bi-parental populations. Allelic diversity analysis of these six C-QTL showed that Indian lines, Pusajaikisan and Varuna, hold the most positive allele in all the six C-QTL. In silico mapping of candidate genes with the consensus QTL localized 11 genes known to influence seed weight in Arabidopsis thaliana and also showed conserved crucifer blocks harboring seed weight QTL between the A subgenomes of B. juncea and B. rapa. These findings pave the way for a better understanding of the genetics of seed weight in the oilseed crop B. juncea and reveal the scope available for improvement of seed weight through marker-assisted breeding.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology under the Centre of Excellence and also partly supported by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and University Grants Commission, Government of India. N. Dhaka acknowledges the receipt of research fellowship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Namrata Dhaka & Akshay K. Pradhan

  2. Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Kadambini Rout, Satish K. Yadava, Yaspal Singh Sodhi, Vibha Gupta, Deepak Pental & Akshay K. Pradhan

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  1. Namrata Dhaka
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  2. Kadambini Rout
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  3. Satish K. Yadava
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  4. Yaspal Singh Sodhi
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  5. Vibha Gupta
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  6. Deepak Pental
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  7. Akshay K. Pradhan
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Correspondence to Akshay K. Pradhan.

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The experiments included in the manuscript entitled “Genetic dissection of seed weight by QTL analysis and detection of allelic variation in Indian and east European gene pool lines of Brassica juncea” comply with the current laws of India for academic and research purposes.

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Communicated by H. C. Becker.

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Dhaka, N., Rout, K., Yadava, S.K. et al. Genetic dissection of seed weight by QTL analysis and detection of allelic variation in Indian and east European gene pool lines of Brassica juncea . Theor Appl Genet 130, 293–307 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-016-2811-2

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