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Linkage mapping combined with association analysis reveals QTL and candidate genes for three husk traits in maize

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Abstract

Key message Combined linkage and association mapping analyses facilitate the emphasis on the candidate genes putatively involved in maize husk growth.

Abstract

The maize (Zea mays L.) husk consists of multiple leafy layers and plays important roles in protecting the ear from pathogen infection and in preventing grain dehydration. Although husk morphology varies widely among different maize inbred lines, the genetic basis of such variation is poorly understood. In this study, we used three maize recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations to dissect the genetic basis of three husk traits: i.e., husk length (HL), husk width (HW), and the number of husk layers (HN). Three husk traits in all three RIL populations showed wide phenotypic variation and high heritability. The HL showed stronger correlations with ear traits than did HW and HN. A total of 21 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for the three traits in three RIL populations, and some of them were commonly observed for the same trait in different populations. The proportions of total phenotypic variation explained by QTL in three RIL populations were 31.8, 35.3, and 44.5% for HL, HW, and HN, respectively. The highest proportions of phenotypic variation explained by a single QTL were 14.7% for HL in the By815/K22 RIL population (BYK), 13.5% for HW in the By815/DE3 RIL population (BYD), and 19.4% for HN in the BYD population. A combined analysis of linkage mapping with a previous genome-wide association study revealed five candidate genes related to husk morphology situated within three QTL loci. These five genes were related to metabolism, gene expression regulation, and signal transduction.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all members of our laboratories for the helpful assistances and discussions during the research. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771880) to ZC, National Program on Key Basic Research Project of China (973Program: 2014CB147300) to YH, Technology Pillar Program of Liaoning Province, China (2015103001), to YR, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0101803) to LZ.

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  1. Zhenhai Cui and Aiai Xia have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biological Science and Technology, Liaoning Province Research Center of Plant Genetic Engineering Technology, Shenyang Key Laboratory of Maize Genomic Selection Breeding, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China

    Zhenhai Cui, Ao Zhang, Lijun Zhang & Yanye Ruan

  2. National Maize Improvement Center of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094, China

    Zhenhai Cui, Aiai Xia, Jinhong Luo, Xiaohong Yang & Yan He

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  1. Zhenhai Cui
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Communicated by Michael Gore.

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Cui, Z., Xia, A., Zhang, A. et al. Linkage mapping combined with association analysis reveals QTL and candidate genes for three husk traits in maize. Theor Appl Genet 131, 2131–2144 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-018-3142-2

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