Abstract
BackgroundMarker Assisted Selection (MAS) is well suited to a perennial crop like oil palm, in which the economic products are not produced until several years after planting. The use of DNA markers for selection in such crops can greatly reduce the number of breeding cycles needed. With the use of DNA markers, informed decisions can be made at the nursery stage, regarding which individuals should be retained as breeding stock, which are satisfactory for agricultural production, and which should be culled. The trait associated with oil quality, measured in terms of its fatty acid composition, is an important agronomic trait that can eventually be tracked using molecular markers. This will speed up the production of new and improved oil palm planting materials.ResultsA map was constructed using AFLP, RFLP and SSR markers for an interspecific cross involving a Colombian Elaeis oleifera (UP1026) and a Nigerian E. guinneensis (T128). A framework map was generated for the male parent, T128, using Joinmap ver. 4.0. In the paternal (E. guineensis) map, 252 markers (199 AFLP, 38 RFLP and 15 SSR) could be ordered in 21 linkage groups (1815 cM). Interval mapping and multiple-QTL model (MQM) mapping (also known as composite interval mapping, CIM) were used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling oil quality (measured in terms of iodine value and fatty acid composition). At a 5% genome-wide significance threshold level, QTLs associated with iodine value (IV), myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2) content were detected. One genomic region on Group 1 appears to be influencing IV, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0 and C18:1 content. Significant QTL for C14:0, C16:1, C18:0 and C18:1 content was detected around the same locus on Group 15, thus revealing another major locus influencing fatty acid composition in oil palm. Additional QTL for C18:0 was detected on Group 3. A minor QTL for C18:2 was detected on Group 2.ConclusionThis study describes the first successful detection of QTLs for fatty acid composition in oil palm. These QTLs constitute useful tools for application in breeding programmes.
Highlights
Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) is well suited to a perennial crop like oil palm, in which the economic products are not produced until several years after planting
The Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) probes used in this study appeared to have mainly scanned the homozygous regions of the E. oleifera parental palm that were not segregating in the mapping progeny, reducing the number of polymorphic probes revealed
Quantitative traits A major objective of this study is to map QTLs associated with iodine value (IV) and fatty acid composition (FAC) in oil palm
Summary
Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) is well suited to a perennial crop like oil palm, in which the economic products are not produced until several years after planting. The trait associated with oil quality, measured in terms of its fatty acid composition, is an important agronomic trait that can eventually be tracked using molecular markers. This will speed up the production of new and improved oil palm planting materials. E. oleifera possess certain important characteristics that are of significant interest to oil palm breeders This includes the low annual stem height increment (between 5 and 10 cm per year as compared to between 45 to 65 cm per year for E. guineensis) [1,2]. In South America, interest in the E. oleifera was driven by the fact that it shows resistance to bud rot disease [5]
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