title: QTL analysis of early stage heterosis for biomass in Arabidopsis.
abstract: The main objective of this study was to identify genomic regions involved in biomass heterosis using QTL, generation means, and mode-of-inheritance classification analyses. In a modified North Carolina Design III we backcrossed 429 recombinant inbred line and 140 introgression line populations to the two parental accessions, C24 and Col-0, whose F (1) hybrid exhibited 44% heterosis for biomass. Mid-parent heterosis in the RILs ranged from -31 to 99% for dry weight and from -58 to 143% for leaf area. We detected ten genomic positions involved in biomass heterosis at an early developmental stage, individually explaining between 2.4 and 15.7% of the phenotypic variation. While overdominant gene action was prevalent in heterotic QTL, our results suggest that a combination of dominance, overdominance and epistasis is involved in biomass heterosis in this Arabidopsis cross.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, 06466 Gatersleben, Germany. meyer@ipk-gatersleben.de
authors.forename: Rhonda Christiane
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kusterer
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lisec
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steinfath
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Becher
authors.forename: Hanno
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scharr
authors.forename: Albrecht E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Melchinger
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Selbig
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schurr
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Willmitzer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Altmann
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D018533:Biomass; D018745:Genome, Plant; D006823:Hybrid Vigor; D007178:Inbreeding; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci