2025/11/04 by María Nicolás-Almansa, David Ruiz, Alfonso Guevara Gázquez +4 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals #Plant Molecular Biology Research #Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/hr/uhaf271
openalex publication_date 2025/11/04 · openalex created_date 2025/11/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
populations: 'Black Splendor' × 'Pioneer' (BS×PIO), 'Red Beaut' × 'Black Splendor' (RB×BS), and 'Red Beaut' × 'Santa Rosa Precoz' (RB×SRP), comprising 121, 103, and 103 seedlings, respectively. Whole-genome sequencing (~80×) was conducted for the four parents, and progenies were genotyped using a cost-efficient reduced-representation sequencing strategy. SNPs heterozygous in one parent and homozygous in the other were used to build six parental linkage maps. Phenological traits, including beginning, full, and end of flowering (BF, FF, EF), flowering intensity (FI), ripening date (RD), fruit development period (FDP), and productivity (P), were evaluated over three years. A total of 53 QTLs were identified for flowering stages, 16 for RD, 18 for FDP, 10 for FI, and 16 for P. Many QTLs were stable across years. Major QTLs for flowering traits were mapped to LG1, LG2, LG4, and LG6, with a strong QTL for FF on LG6 of 'Black Splendor'. In BS×PIO, BF was uncorrelated with FF and EF, indicating distinct genetic control likely inherited from 'PIO', a low-chill cultivar. RD and FDP were consistently associated with LG4, while productivity QTLs were detected on LG1, LG2, and LG4, often overlapping, suggesting pleiotropic or tightly linked loci. In addition, candidate genes within stable QTLs were detected, providing immediate targets for functional studies. This study provides one of the first genome-wide QTL analyses of phenology in Japanese plum using low-coverage whole genome sequencing and offers valuable tools for marker-assisted breeding in this species.