ABSTRACT
Abstract Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) is a major abiotic factor affecting grain weight and quality, and is caused by an early break in seed dormancy. Association mapping (AM) is used to detect correlations between phenotypes and genotypes based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) in wheat breeding programs. We evaluated seed dormancy in 80 Chinese wheat founder parents in five environments and performed a genome-wide association study using 6,057 markers, including 93 simple sequence repeat (SSR), 1,472 diversity array technology (DArT), and 4,492 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The general linear model (GLM) and the mixed linear model (MLM) were used in this study, and two significant markers (tPt-7980 and wPt-6457) were identified. Both markers were located on Chromosome 1B, with wPt-6457 having been identified in a previously reported chromosomal position. The significantly associated loci contain essential information for cloning genes related to resistance to PHS and can be used in wheat breeding programs.
ABSTRACT
DNA-based molecular markers have been extensively utilized for a variety of studies in both plant and animal systems. One of the major uses of these markers is the construction of genome-wide molecular maps and the genetic analysis of simple and complex traits. However, these studies are generally based on linkage analysis in mapping populations, thus placing serious limitations in using molecular markers for genetic analysis in a variety of plant populations. Therefore, alternative approach has been suggested, linkage disequilibrium-based association analysis which detects and locates quantitative trait loci (QTL) by the strength of the correlation between a trait and a marker. Although association analysis has already been used for studies on genetics of complex traits in humans, its use in plants has newly started. In the present review, we describe what is known about variation in linkage disequilibrium (LD) and summarize published results on association studies in crop plant species. We give a list of different factors affecting LD, and discuss the current issues of LD research in plants. Later, we also describe the various uses of LD in crop plants research and summarize the present status of LD researches in different plant genomes. Finally, future key issues about the application of these studies on the localization of genes in these crop plants have been also discussed.