QTL Mapping for Anthocyanin and Melanin Contents in Maize Kernel

Abstract

Anthocyanin and melanin are important and beneficial chemical components in black maize kernel. It is important to comprehensively study the QTL mapping for anthocyanin and melanin, cloning and transfer of pigmentation-related genes and marker assistant breeding. In this study, two related F 2:3 populations derived from crosses of Mu6×SDM (WD) and Mo17×SDM (YD) were used to identify QTLs for anthocyanin and melanin contents in maize kernels. The results showed that the phenotype and QTL identification of two populations were highly consistent. The anthocynian and melanin contents of SDM were significantly higher than those of Mu 6 and Mo17. The positive correlation between the two pigment contents in kernel was highly significant. A total of seventeen QTLs were identified, including eight QTLs for ACK and nine QTLs for MCK. For ACK, four QTLs were both detected in two populations, which were distributed on chromosomes 4, 6, 7, and 10. For MCK, four and five QTLs were identified in WD and YD populations, respectively, which were distributed on chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10. The number, distribution and effects of QTLs in two populations were highly consistent, and the major QTLs of ACK and MCK in two populations were both clustered, which were detected in the intervals of umc1796-mmc2006 (bin 6.04) and umc2043-bnlg1028 (bins

Further Mapping and Epistasis Analysis of Two Quantitative Trait Loci of Kernel and Cob Anthocyanin Contents in Maize

“…In the MoS‐BC 4 F 3 population, two QTLs for kernel anthocyanin content and cob anthocyanin content were mapped in the interval S8 to mmc0523 on chromosome 6 and in the interval bnlg1028 to IDP8526 on chromosome 10, respectively. Compared with the study of Qin et al, (2012), the intervals of the QTLs in this paper were all narrowed. In both populations, there were two common markers ( S8 on chromosome 6 and IDP8526 on chromosome 10), which illustrated that the two QTLs were reliable.…”

“…Until now, numerous studies on black maize have been done. Qin et al (2012) identified the QTLs for anthocyanin and melanin contents in maize kernels. Mei et al (2014) analyzed the physicochemical characteristics of anthocyanin in SDM.…”

“…As the people's living conditions and health care awareness improve continually, it is of great importance to breed and eat high anthocyanin maize. In a previous study in our lab using two related F 2:3 populations derived from the crosses of Mu6 × SDM and Mo17 × SDM, we detected two major QTLs for kernel anthocyanin content, which were located in the intervals of umc1796 to mmc2006 on chromosome 6 and umc2043 to bnlg1028 on chromosome 10 and explained 12.70 to 21.30% and 8.60 to 21.30% of phenotypic variation, respectively (Qin et al, 2012). The two QTLs were tentatively designated GEN6 and GEN10 , respectively.…”

Identification of Genetic Loci Associated with Flavonoid Content in Sweet Corn Across Different Populations and Environments

“…This indicated obvious QTL enriched regions and clustered distribution of avonoidrelated traits in the chromosomes of sweet corn. Similar studies are available on the clustering distribution of QTLs (Qin et al 2012;Luo et al 2019). Tuberosa et al (2002) reported that QTL mapping analysis provides insights into trait correlations and suggested four mechanisms: (1) close linkage of genes controlling distinct traits at identical or adjacent chromosomal loci; (2) mono-functional genes orchestrating cascades of genes; (3) pleiotropic gene effects; and (4) two tightly linked genes jointly modulating multiple distinct traits.…”

“…The results further con rmed the important role of p site in the avonoid metabolic pathway in maize and the reliability of the experimental results. The QTLs (qAPI4.2a and qNAR4.3c) located in the region of chromosome bin4.06-bin4.07 were located at adjacent loci with QTL (qFCK-4-HN) controlling total avonoids(Sun et al 2013) and QTL (qACK-4a) controlling anthocyanins(Qin et al 2012). The QTL (qAPI5a) located at the bin5.03 locus of chromosome was located at the same locus as the QTL controlling maysin(Meyer et al 2007).…”