title: New insights into the genetic networks affecting seed fatty acid concentrations in Brassica napus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rapeseed (B. napus, AACC, 2n = 38) is one of the most important oil seed crops in the world, it is also one of the most common oil for production of biodiesel. Its oil is a mixture of various fatty acids and dissection of the genetic network for fatty acids biosynthesis is of great importance for improving seed quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genetic basis of fatty acid biosynthesis in B. napus was investigated via quantitative trail locus (QTL) analysis using a doubled haploid (DH) population with 202 lines. A total of 72 individual QTLs and a large number pairs of epistatic interactions associated with the content of 10 different fatty acids were detected. A total of 234 homologous genes of Arabidopsis thaliana that are involved in fatty acid metabolism were found within the confidence intervals (CIs) of 47 QTLs. Among them, 47 and 15 genes homologous to those of B. rapa and B. oleracea were detected, respectively. After the QTL mapping, the epistatic and the candidate gene interaction analysis, a potential regulatory pathway controlling fatty acid biosynthesis in B. napus was constructed, including 50 enzymes encoded genes and five regulatory factors (LEC1, LEC2, FUS3, WRI1 and ABI3). Subsequently, the interaction between these five regulatory factors and the genes involved in fatty acid metabolism were analyzed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, a potential regulatory pathway controlling the fatty acid was constructed by QTL analysis and in silico mapping analysis. These results enriched our knowledge of QTLs for fatty acids metabolism and provided a new clue for genetic engineering fatty acids composition in B. napus.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China. xdwang120@163.com.|Key Laboratory of Cotton and Rapeseed, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Industrial Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China. xdwang120@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Lab of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China. longren0807@gmail.com.|Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. longren0807@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China. yinyongtai@163.com.
authors.forename: Yongtai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: National Key Lab of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China. zhchy@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China. ganluhust@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, China. liezhao2003@126.com.
authors.forename: Liezhao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China. yulongjaing@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Longjiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: National Key Lab of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China. jmeng@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China. limaoteng426@mail.hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Maoteng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D029688:Brassica napus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D018745:Genome, Plant; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids