Mapping of the Gynoecy in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) Using RAD-Seq Analysis

Hideo Matsumura,Mai Fukushima,Naoki Taniai,Naoya Urasaki,Norimichi Miyagi,Ayano Shudo,Kazuhiko Tarora,Hector Candela

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0087138

Hideo Matsumura, Mai Fukushima + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087138

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Abstract

Momordica charantia is a monoecious plant of the Cucurbitaceae family that has both male and female unisexual flowers. Its unique gynoecious line, OHB61-5, is essential as a maternal parent in the production of F1 cultivars. To identify the DNA markers for this gynoecy, a RAD-seq (restriction-associated DNA tag sequencing) analysis was employed to reveal genome-wide DNA polymorphisms and to genotype the F2 progeny from a cross between OHB61-5 and a monoecious line. Based on a RAD-seq analysis of F2 individuals, a linkage map was constructed using 552 co-dominant markers. In addition, after analyzing the pooled genomic DNA from monoecious or gynoecious F2 plants, several SNP loci that are genetically linked to gynoecy were identified. GTFL-1, the closest SNP locus to the putative gynoecious locus, was converted to a conventional DNA marker using invader assay technology, which is applicable to the marker-assisted selection of gynoecy in M. charantia breeding.

Highlights

Sexual reproduction systems in higher plants are highly divergent and vary depending on the plant adaptation to various environments
In the analyzed F2 population, the monoecious and gynoecious individuals were segregated in a 3:1 ratio at a significant level (P.0.05 in the chi-square test, Table 1). These results suggest that gynoecy in OHB61-5 is determined by a single recessive gene
The RAD-seq analysis accelerated the detection of genomewide polymorphisms in M. charantia, and genotyping in the F2 progeny was achieved using the same procedure in a highthroughput manner

Summary

Introduction

Sexual reproduction systems in higher plants are highly divergent and vary depending on the plant adaptation to various environments. Plants carrying the dominant allele at both loci (A-G-) produce monoecious plants, whereas those with a recessive homozygosity at either the g or a locus (A-gg or aaG-) display gynoecy (all of the flowers are female) or andromonoecy (consisting of bi-sexual and male flowers), respectively [3]. Recessive homozygosity at both loci (aagg) results in hermaphroditic flowers [3].

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