Reference "Genetic dissection of heading time and its components in rice."

Reference ID

7841

Title

Genetic dissection of heading time and its components in rice.

Source

Theoretical and applied genetics, 2001, vol. 102(8), pp. 1236-1242

Authors (6)

Zhou-Y	Li-W
Wu-W	Chen-Q
Mao-D	Worland-A-J

Abstract

Heading time (HT, days from sowing to heading) is an important agronomic trait
in rice. Physiologically, HT can be divided into two stages: vegetative growth
time (VGT) and reproductive growth time (RGT). A number of studies for mapping
QTLs conferring HT in rice have been reported, but none of them has tried to map
HT-related QTLs based on their component traits (VGT and RGT). The present study
aims to map HT-related QTLs in rice according not only to the performance of HT,
but also the performances of VGT and RGT. A method based on an empirical
equation of leaf age growth was developed to partition HT into VGT and RGT. An
indica/japonica DH population and a corresponding RFLP map were constructed for
the study. The methods of composite interval mapping and multiple-trait
composite interval mapping were used to map QTLs. A total of 19 QTLs were mapped
on all 12 rice chromosomes with the exception of chromosomes 1 and 4. Results
showed that: (1) more QTLs could be detected by partitioning HT into VGT and
RGT; (2) the genetic variation of HT was largely attributed to VGT; and (3) the
two component stages were relatively independent in terms of QTL effects,
suggesting that the ratio between VGT and RGT could be genetically adjusted
without apparently altering HT.