Abstract
BackgroundTef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cereal crop in Ethiopia. Tef is an allotetraploid with a base chromosome number of 10 (2n = 4× = 40) and a genome size of 730 Mbp. The goal of this study was to identify agronomically important quantitative trait loci (QTL) using recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from an inter-specific cross between E. tef and E. pilosa (30-5).ResultsTwenty-two yield-related and morphological traits were assessed across eight different locations in Ethiopia during the growing seasons of 1999 and 2000. Using composite interval mapping and a linkage map incorporating 192 loci, 99 QTLs were identified on 15 of the 21 linkage groups for 19 traits. Twelve QTLs on nine linkage groups were identified for grain yield. Clusters of more than five QTLs for various traits were identified on seven linkage groups. The largest cluster (10 QTLs) was identified on linkage group 8; eight of these QTLs were for yield or yield components, suggesting linkage or pleotrophic effects of loci. There were 15 two-way interactions of loci to detect potential epistasis identified and 75% of the interactions were derived from yield and shoot biomass. Thirty-one percent of the QTLs were observed in multiple environments; two yield QTLs were consistent across all agro-ecology zones. For 29.3% of the QTLs, the alleles from E. pilosa (30-5) had a beneficial effect.ConclusionThe extensive QTL data generated for tef in this study will provide a basis for initiating molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits in this staple food crop for the people of Ethiopia.
Highlights
Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cereal crop in Ethiopia
The primary use of tef is for grinding into flour to make injera, a spongy fermented flat bread that is a staple food for most
Phenotypic correlations were estimated between the overall means of the 22 phenotypic traits
Summary
Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cereal crop in Ethiopia. Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter, is a major food grain in Ethiopia but is a minor cereal crop worldwide. In Ethiopia for the crop year 2003–2004, it occupied two million hectares, which represented 28% of the area grown with eight cereal crops in the country [1]. BMC Plant Biology 2007, 7:30 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/7/30 well on both waterlogged Vertisols in the highlands as well as water-stressed areas in the semi-arid regions throughout the country is one of the reasons for which tef is preferred over other grain crops such as maize or barley [2]. Tef generally suffers less from biotic stresses compared to most other cereal crops grown in Ethiopia and it contains high levels of proteins and mineral [3]
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