title: PFRU, a single dominant locus regulates the balance between sexual and asexual plant reproduction in cultivated strawberry.
abstract: Strawberry (Fragaria sp.) stands as an interesting model for studying flowering behaviour and its relationship with asexual plant reproduction in polycarpic perennial plants. Strawberry produces both inflorescences and stolons (also called runners), which are lateral stems growing at the soil surface and producing new clone plants. In this study, the flowering and runnering behaviour of two cultivated octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch., 2n = 8× = 56) genotypes, a seasonal flowering genotype CF1116 and a perpetual flowering genotype Capitola, were studied along the growing season. The genetic bases of the perpetual flowering and runnering traits were investigated further using a pseudo full-sibling F1 population issued from a cross between these two genotypes. The results showed that a single major quantitative trait locus (QTL) named FaPFRU controlled both traits in the cultivated octoploid strawberry. This locus was not orthologous to the loci affecting perpetual flowering (SFL) and runnering (R) in Fragaria vesca, therefore suggesting different genetic control of perpetual flowering and runnering in the diploid and octoploid Fragaria spp. Furthermore, the FaPFRU QTL displayed opposite effects on flowering (positive effect) and on runnering (negative effect), indicating that both traits share common physiological control. These results suggest that this locus plays a major role in strawberry plant fitness by controlling the balance between sexual and asexual plant reproduction.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR 1332 de Biologie du fruit et Pathologie, F-33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors.forename: Amèlia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaston
authors.forename: Justine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perrotte
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lerceteau-Köhler
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rousseau-Gueutin
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernould
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rothan
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Denoyes
mesh_terms: D031985:Fragaria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins