Mapping the genome ofMiscanthus sinensisforQTLassociated with biomass productivity

Abstract

AbstractIn light of rising energy costs, lignocellulosic ethanol has been identified as a renewable alternative to petroleum‐based transportation fuels. In an attempt to reach government mandated ethanol production levels, potential plant biofeedstock candidates have been investigated, and cold‐tolerant, perennial accessions within the C4grass genusMiscanthushave been identified as leading contenders in the Midwestern US. To facilitate the development of improved cultivars through marker‐assisted breeding, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) study was conducted on a full‐sib, F1mapping population segregating for flowering time, height, leaf width, and yield using a genetic map consisting of 846 segregatingSNPandSSRmarkers. This was a 3 year study investigating the genetic architecture underlying traits important to biomass production in a population of 221 progeny from a cross betweenM. sinensis‘Grosse Fountaine’ andM. sinensis‘Undine’ established in the spring of 2010; 72QTLs withLODscores above the genome‐wide, permuted threshold equivalent to aP‐value of 0.05 were identified across 13 traits. Of the 36QTLs identified in 2011, 22 were detected again the following year. Both the use of spring emergence and vigor rating as a covariate to account for variation related to differences in establishment increased the power to detectQTLs in the 2 year establishment period. Finally, a dry period in the middle of the 2012 growing season suggested that yield declines were due to a decrease in tiller diameter.