Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling the Development of Prickles in Eggplant by Genome Re-sequencing Analysis.

Zongwei Qian,Dayong Li,Bin Zhang,Mengqi Duan,Yanling Cui,Jun Zhou,Haili Chen,Lei Lu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.731079

Abstract

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is the third most important crop in the family of Solanaceae. Prickles are considered as the undesirable traits during the plantation of eggplant and the transportation of fruits. In this study, we constructed a high-quality genetic linkage Bin map derived from the re-sequencing analysis on a cross of a prickly wild landrace, 17C01, and a cultivated variety, 17C02. The major quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling the development of prickles on the calyx (explained 30.42% of the phenotypic variation), named as qPC.12, was identified on a ~7 kb region on chromosome 12. A gene within qPC.12, which encodes a WUSCHEL-related homeobox-like protein, with higher expression levels in 17C01 calyx and 22-bp deletion in 17C02 was probably the functional gene for prickle formation. Results from this study would ultimately facilitate uncovering the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying the development of a prickle in eggplant.

Highlights

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), of the Solanaceae family, is a common vegetable in Africa, Asia, and Southern Europe (Polignano et al, 2010)
To investigate the quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling the development of prickles in eggplant, we constructed the segregating populations derived from crossing 17C01 and 17C02. 17C01, as the female parent (P1), is a wild landrace with prickles on the stem, petiole, leaf, and calyx, while 17C02, the male parent (P2), is almost prickless (Figure 1A)
The major QTL conferring the emergence of prickle on the calyx was located on the same region with qPC.12, which confirms that the qPC.12 is most likely the QTL responsible for the development of prickle on the calyx in eggplant

Summary

Introduction

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), of the Solanaceae family, is a common vegetable in Africa, Asia, and Southern Europe (Polignano et al, 2010). It becomes increasingly important to develop new eggplant varieties with high-yielding and improved agronomic traits such as optimum plant architecture and fruit shape, minimum risk of deterioration during transport, and longer shelf time. Wild eggplant and cultivated varieties have significant phenotypic divergence in morphological traits, such as leaf morphology, fruit size, shape and color, and plant architecture. Among these traits, the “prickly phenotype” is significant in eggplant breeding. Breeding new eggplant varieties with non-prickly calyx requires the characterization of the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying this complex agronomic trait, while the map-based gene cloning based on the large-scale molecular markers and high-quality genetic maps become indispensable for such task

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion