Characterisation of a major QTL for sodium accumulation in tomato grown in high salinity.

Soil salinity is a serious concern for tomato culture, affecting both yield and quality parameters. Although some genes involved in tomato salt tolerance have been identified, their genetic diversity has been rarely studied. In the present study, we assessed salt tolerance-related traits at juvenile and adult stages in a large core collection and identified salt tolerance quantitative trait loci (QTLs) by genome-wide association study (GWAS). The results suggested that a major QTL is involved in leaf sodium accumulation at both physiological stages. We were able to identify the underlying candidate gene, coding for a well-known sodium transporter, called SlHKT1.2. We showed that an eQTL for the expression of this gene in roots colocalized with the above ground sodium content QTL. A polymorphism putatively responsible for its variation was identified in the gene promoter. Finally, to extend the applicability of these results, we carried out the same analysis on a test-cross panel composed of the core collection crossed with a distant line. The results indicated that the identified QTL retained its functional impact even in a hybrid genetic context: this paves the way for its use in breeding programs aimed at improving salinity tolerance in tomato cultivars.

Genetic characterization of southwestern European bovine breeds: a historical and biogeographical reassessment with a set of 16 microsatellites.

The origin of Iberian cattle has been suggested by some authors to be the product of European and north African cattle entrances during the last few thousands of years. However, these hypotheses were mainly based on morphological similarities. This study analyzed 889 unrelated individuals from 15 representative Iberian breeds and 3 French breeds for 16 microsatellite loci. Statistical tests were used to calculate interpopulation genetic distances (D(A)) and principal components analysis (PCA). To visualize the geographical distribution of the genetic differentiation between Iberian cattle breeds, data from the PCA analysis were used to construct synthetic maps. Genetic similarity among neighboring Iberian breeds is mainly caused by gene flow. However, recent demographic fluctuations and reproductive isolation in Alistana, Mirandesa, and Tudanca has increased genetic drift, which may be the main cause for the relatively high differentiation of these populations. The synthetic maps constructed with the first and second PCs revealed (1) a large differentiation between Northern Iberian breeds rather than between more geographically distant breeds, and (2) a clear east-west gradient that may be related with the model of demic diffusion of agriculture. Finally, we detected no strong evidence for an African genetic influence in the Iberian cattle breeds analyzed in this study.

Genetic diversity measures of local European beef cattle breeds for conservation purposes.

This study was undertaken to determine the genetic structure, evolutionary relationships, and the genetic diversity among 18 local cattle breeds from Spain, Portugal, and France using 16 microsatellites. Heterozygosities, estimates of Fst, genetic distances, multivariate and diversity analyses, and assignment tests were performed. Heterozygosities ranged from 0.54 in the Pirenaica breed to 0.72 in the Barrosã breed. Seven percent of the total genetic variability can be attributed to differences among breeds (mean F(st) = 0.07; P<0.01). Five different genetic distances were computed and compared with no correlation found to be significantly different from 0 between distances based on the effective size of the population and those which use the size of the alleles. The Weitzman recursive approach and a multivariate analysis were used to measure the contribution of the breeds diversity. The Weitzman approach suggests that the most important breeds to be preserved are those grouped into two clusters: the cluster formed by the Mirandesa and Alistana breeds and that of the Sayaguesa and Tudanca breeds. The hypothetical extinction of one of those clusters represents a 17% loss of diversity. A correspondence analysis not only distinguished four breed groups but also confirmed results of previous studies classifying the important breeds contributing to diversity. In addition, the variation between breeds was sufficiently high so as to allow individuals to be assigned to their breed of origin with a probability of 99% for simulated samples.