Abstract
The study on the fast-growing traits of trees, mainly valued by tree height (TH) and diameter at breast height (DBH), is of great significance to promote the development of the forest industry. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping based on high-density genetic maps is an efficient approach to identify genetic regions for fast-growing traits. In our study, a high-density genetic map for the F1 population was constructed. The genetic map had a total size of 5,484.07 centimorgan (cM), containing 5,956 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on Specific Length Amplified Fragment sequencing. Six fast-growing related stable QTL were identified on six chromosomes, and five stable QTL were identified by a principal component analysis (PCA). By combining the RNA-seq analysis for the two parents and two progenies with the qRT-PCR analysis, four candidate genes, annotated as DnaJ, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase 1 (ACO1), Caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase 1 (COMT1), and Dirigent protein 6 (DIR6), that may regulate height growth were identified. Several lignin biosynthesis-related genes that may take part in height growth were detected. In addition, 21 hotspots in this population were found. The results of this study will provide an important foundation for further studies on the molecular and genetic regulation of TH and DBH.
Highlights
Forests are the most important source of natural raw material for industries and the environment
According to the principal component analysis (PCA), which was performed to detect the common factors underlying trait variation, all traits showed high positive loadings on PCA1, which can explain 78.8% of the variance of traits (Figure 1B). This result suggests that F1 plants with high PCA1 scores in this population exhibited tall tree height (TH) and high diameter at breast height (DBH)
The result showed that TH and DBH were stable in different years, which is consistent with the correlation analysis
Summary
Forests are the most important source of natural raw material for industries and the environment. The study on the fast-growing traits of trees is of great significance to promote the development of the forest industry. Fast-growing traits, including height growth, diameter growth, volume of wood, growth period, dry weight, and biomass, are complex quantitative traits controlled by multiple genes and environmental factors. High fast-growing trees produce enough raw material to satisfy the industry. Developing high fast-growing cultivars with good wood quality remains a challenge for forest breeding. A series of studies have focused on genes that play an important
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