High-density genetic mapping and QTL analysis for key horticultural traits in bitter gourd : Insights into plant architecture, fruit development, and wart characteristics
Feifan Chen, Jiayu Liu, Hongrong Chen, Yi Yang, Xuzhen Li, Yuehong Ding, Libo Tian, Sang Shang
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.), a staple crop in subtropical and tropical Asia and Africa, is valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties. Despite its significance, genetic studies on key horticultural traits remain limited. To address this, we generated F1, F2, and F2:3 populations by crossing two inbred lines, HNU004 and HNU025. Whole-genome sequencing of the parents and 178 F2 individuals enabled the construction of a high-density genetic map with 2,605 bin SNP markers across 11 linkage groups. QTL mapping using Composite Interval Mapping (CIM) and Multiple QTL Model (MQM) approaches across three environments identified 22 QTLs influencing plant architecture, fruit size, and wart traits, explaining 6.14–68.12% of phenotypic variance. This included three novel QTLs for average internode length, three for lateral branch number (LBN), and four for fruit-related traits. Five key QTLs were consistently detected: lbn3.1 on chromosome 3 (LBN), mfl5.1 and smfw5.1 on chromosome 5 (mature fruit length and single mature fruit weight), and fwf4.1 and fwf6.1 on chromosomes 4 and 6 respectively governing fruit wart characteristics. These QTLs spanned physical regions ranging from 220 kb to 2.1 Mb. Candidate genes were predicted for major QTLs, including Moc03g28260 (lbn3.1), Moc05g28880 and Moc05g29850 (mfl5.1), and Moc06g04450 and Moc06g04970 (fwf6.1). Epistatic interactions between QTLs for LBN and fruit length suggested complex genetic regulation. Molecular markers for mfl5.1, fwf4.1, and fwf6.1 were validated in an independent F2 population of 213 individuals, which confirmed their phenotypic effects. This study provides a dense and informative set of genetic markers suitable for marker-assisted selection in bitter gourd breeding and establishes a foundation for the cloning of candidate genes, thereby accelerating genetic improvement efforts.
期刊介绍:
Horticultural Plant Journal (HPJ) is an OPEN ACCESS international journal. HPJ publishes research related to all horticultural plants, including fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, tea plants, and medicinal plants, etc. The journal covers all aspects of horticultural crop sciences, including germplasm resources, genetics and breeding, tillage and cultivation, physiology and biochemistry, ecology, genomics, biotechnology, plant protection, postharvest processing, etc. Article types include Original research papers, Reviews, and Short communications.