Abstract

The cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), which is rich in edible oil and protein, is widely planted around the world as an oil and cash crop. However, aflatoxin contamination seriously affects the quality safety of peanuts, hindering the development of the peanut industry and threatening the health of consumers. Breeding peanut varieties with resistance to Aspergillus flavus infection is important for the control of aflatoxin contamination, and understanding the genetic basis of resistance is vital to its genetic enhancement. In this study, we reported the quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of resistance to A. flavus infection of a well-known resistant variety, J11. A mapping population consisting of 200 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was constructed by crossing a susceptible variety, Zhonghua 16, with J11. Through whole-genome resequencing, a genetic linkage map was constructed with 2,802 recombination bins and an average inter-bin distance of 0.58 cM. Combined with phenotypic data of an infection index in 4 consecutive years, six novel resistant QTLs with 5.03–10.87% phenotypic variances explained (PVE) were identified on chromosomes A05, A08, B01, B03, and B10. The favorable alleles of five QTLs were from J11, while that of one QTL was from Zhonghua 16. The combination of these favorable alleles significantly improved resistance to A. flavus infection. These results could contribute greatly to the understanding of the genetic basis of A. flavus resistance and could be meaningful in the improvement of further resistance in peanuts.

Highlights

  • The cultivated peanut, known as groundnut, is one of the most important oil crops and is widely cultivated in most tropical and sub-tropical regions

  • The percent seed infection index (PSII) of the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population was calculated with seeds harvested from 4 consecutive years (2017–2020)

  • The PSII varied among RILs from 46.92 to 98.25%, 40.74 to 100%, 26.98 to 100%, and 24.73 to 100% in the 4 years (Table 1)

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Summary

Introduction

The cultivated peanut, known as groundnut, is one of the most important oil crops and is widely cultivated in most tropical and sub-tropical regions. Aflatoxin contamination, which is caused by a pathogen, namely, Aspergillus flavus, is a huge threat to the peanut industry and other important crops such as corn, rice, and wheat (Mahato et al, 2019; Womack et al, 2020). Comprehensive prevention strategies including using bio-control agents, having good agricultural practices, and planting resistant varieties were suggested to control aflatoxin contamination in peanuts (Torres et al, 2014). The breeding of varieties with resistance to A. flavus infection has been one of the main objectives in peanut breeding programs and was recognized as the most cost-effective measure to solve the problem (Wang et al, 2016). Understanding the genetic pattern of resistance to A. flavus infection is vital to the enhancement of resistance in peanuts

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