QTL mapping for plant architecture traits in upland cotton using RILs and SSR markers.

Xiangzamian 2 (XZM2) is the most widely cultivated cotton hybrid in China. By crossing two parents Zhongmiansuo12 and 8891 and upon subsequent selfings, we got F8 and F9 populations having 180 recombinant inbred lines. Ten plant architecture traits were investigated in two years with this population. A genetic map was constructed mainly with SSR markers. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) conditioning plant architecture traits were determined at the single-locus and double-locus levels. The results showed that epistastic effects as well as additive effects of QTL played an important role as the genetic basis of cotton plant architecture. The QTL detected in our research might provide new information on improving plant architecture traits. The polymorphism of molecular markers between ZMS12 and 8891 were quite limited, while significant differences between their phenotypes were found and the hybrid XZM2 expressed high heterosis in yield. All these could be partly explained by the effect of epistatic QTL.

Mapping of fiber quality QTLs reveals useful variation and footprints of cotton domestication using introgression lines.

Fiber quality improvement is a driving force for further cotton domestication and breeding. Here, QTLs for fiber quality were mapped in 115 introgression lines (ILs) first developed from two intraspecific populations of cultivated and feral cotton landraces. A total of 60 QTLs were found, which explained 2.03-16.85% of the phenotypic variance found in fiber quality traits. A total of 36 markers were associated with five fiber traits, 33 of which were found to be associated with QTLs in multiple environments. In addition, nine pairs of common QTLs were identified; namely, one pair of QTLs for fiber elongation, three pairs for fiber length, three pairs for fiber strength and two pairs for micronaire (qMICs). All common QTLs had additive effects in the same direction in both IL populations. We also found five QTL clusters, allowing cotton breeders to focus their efforts on regions of QTLs with the highest percentages of phenotypic variance. Our results also reveal footprints of domestication; for example, fourteen QTLs with positive effects were found to have remained in modern cultivars during domestication, and two negative qMICs that had never been reported before were found, suggesting that the qMICs regions may be eliminated during artificial selection.

Molecular marker assisted selection and pyramiding of two QTLs for fiber strength in upland cotton.

Based on two major QTLs that control high fiber strength which originated from an elite fiber germ-plasm line 7235 (Gossypium hiusutum L.), the efficiency of molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) was investigated using two populations from pedigree selection and modified backcrossing pyramiding developed for the breeding purpose. Simian 3 (SM3), a widely planted variety in the Yangtze River Valley, and 7235 were used as parents to develop the two populations. In the two major QTLs for fiber strength from 7235, QTLfs-1 could explain more than 30% of the phenotypic variation (PV) in the (7235 x TM-1) F2 population. QTLfs-2 was at first identified in another super quality fiber line HS427-10 from (HS427-10 x TM-1) F2 population with 12.5% of PV explanation,which was further also identified in 7235 line but was non-allelic with QTLfs-1. The result of molecular marker-assisted selection for fiber strength showed that the genetic effect of the QTLfs-1 was stable under different environmental conditions, and its molecular marker-assisted selection showed significant selective efficiency among breeding populations with different genetic backgrounds. QTLfs-2 also showed high selective efficiency in advanced generation populations though its effect was a little lower than the former. When QTLfs-1 was selected simultaneously with 2 molecular markers with known genetic distance, the selection efficiency for the fiber strength was greatly increased. The pyramiding for two QTLs that control high fiber strength by MAS greatly improved the selection efficiency for cotton fiber strength. This report provides a successful example of MAS pyramiding for QTL for favorable traits in breeding programs.

Gossypium barbadense genome sequence provides insight into the evolution of extra-long staple fiber and specialized metabolites.

Of the two cultivated species of allopolyploid cotton, Gossypium barbadense produces extra-long fibers for the production of superior textiles. We sequenced its genome (AD)2 and performed a comparative analysis. We identified three bursts of retrotransposons from 20 million years ago (Mya) and a genome-wide uneven pseudogenization peak at 11-20 Mya, which likely contributed to genomic divergences. Among the 2,483 genes preferentially expressed in fiber, a cell elongation regulator, PRE1, is strikingly At biased and fiber specific, echoing the A-genome origin of spinnable fiber. The expansion of the PRE members implies a genetic factor that underlies fiber elongation. Mature cotton fiber consists of nearly pure cellulose. G. barbadense and G. hirsutum contain 29 and 30 cellulose synthase (CesA) genes, respectively; whereas most of these genes (>25) are expressed in fiber, genes for secondary cell wall biosynthesis exhibited a delayed and higher degree of up-regulation in G. barbadense compared with G. hirsutum, conferring an extended elongation stage and highly active secondary wall deposition during extra-long fiber development. The rapid diversification of sesquiterpene synthase genes in the gossypol pathway exemplifies the chemical diversity of lineage-specific secondary metabolites. The G. barbadense genome advances our understanding of allopolyploidy, which will help improve cotton fiber quality.

[Tagging and mapping of QTLs controlling lint yield and yield components in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) using SSR and RAPD markers].

Using interval mapping and marker simple regression methods, the QTLs of yield and its components in (Simian 3 x TM-1) F2 and F2:3, were tagged and Mapped with 39 SSR and 10 RAPD markers having polymorphism between parents screened from 301 pair SSR primers and 1040 RAPD primers. Simian 3 is being grown extensively in Yangtze River cotton-growing valley characterized as high productivity with more bolls and higher lint percent, whereas TM-1, Genetic standard in Upland cotton with more heavy boll weight. In the present report, two QTLs controlling boll size with 18.2% and 21.0% phenotype variance explained in F2:3 generation, one QTL controlling lint percent with 24.9% phenotype variance explained in F2 generation and 5.9% in F2:3 generation and one QTL controlling 100-seed weight with 15.6% phenotype variance explained in F2:3 generation were mapped in Chromosome 9. Additionally, another QTL responsible for 100-seed weight was identified and mapped at the same position in Chromosome 9 in F2:3 generation. It is worth for further to be studied whether it is one QTL for pleiotrophism or two closely linked QTLs. The molecular markers mapped and tagged closely with main QTLs of yield traits in this paper can be used for MAS in cotton high-yield breeding program.