title: QTL mapping of a high protein digestibility trait in Sorghum bicolor.
abstract: Compared with other cereal grains, Sorghum bicolor shows lower protein digestibility. The low digestibility is thought to result from disulfide cross linking in the beta- and gamma-kafirins. In contrast, the single recessive high digestibility/high lysine content (HD) mutation which confers greater grain digestibility exists in sorghum that is thought to result from reduced accumulation of gamma-kafirin that allows greater access to the high digestible alpha-kafarin fraction. In an effort to both clearly define the molecular basis for the HD trait and develop tools to improve the introgression of this difficult-to-screen trait, this study focuses on mapping the QTLs linked to this trait. While the HD trait has been defined as a single recessive gene, our results uncovered that two major QTLs on chromosome 1 are associated with protein digestibility-one QTL (locus 1 from the HD parent) unfavorably affects digestibility and one QTL (locus 2 from the HD parent) only 20 cM away favorably affects digestibility. A contrast analysis between genotypic groups at these two loci shows that a higher level of protein digestibility may be obtained when this linkage in repulsion is broken and favorable alleles are allowed to recombine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Institute for Plant Genomics & Biotechnology, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Winn
authors.forename: R Esten
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Adriana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Rooney
authors.forename: Dirk B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hays