QTL Mapping of Quality Related Traits in Peanut Using Whole-Genome Resequencing
Abstract Background: Oil and protein content, as well as fatty acid composition, are important quality traits in peanut. Elucidating the genetic mechanisms underlying these traits may help researchers to obtain improved cultivars through molecular breeding techniques.Results: Whole-genome resequencing of an RIL population of 318 lines was performed to construct a high-density linkage map and identify QTLs for peanut quality. The map, containing 4561 bin markers, covered a length of 2032.39 cM with an average marker density of 0.45 cM. A total of 109 QTLs for oil content, protein content, and fatty acid compositions were mapped on the 18 peanut chromosomes. The QTL qA05.1 was detected in four different environments and exhibited a major phenotypic effect on the content of oil, proteins, and six fatty acids. The genomic region spanned by qA05.1, corresponding to a physical interval of approximately 1.50 Mb, contains two polymorphic SNPs between two parents that could cause missense mutations. The two SNP sites were employed as KASP markers and validated using lines with extremely high and low oil contents; these sites may be useful in the marker-assisted breeding of peanut varieties with high oil contents.Conclusions: A high-density genetic map with 4561 bin markers was constructed, and a major and pleiotropic QTL located on LG05 was stably detected for oil, protein and fatty acids across four different environments.