Plant Genome II Conference
Town & Country Conference Center, San Diego, CA, January, 1994.
PG-II: LOCATING QTL FOR CARBON METABOLISM AND EARLY GROWTH IN MAIZE,
USING CANDIDATE GENE APPROACH
LOCATING QTL FOR CARBON METABOLISM AND EARLY GROWTH IN MAIZE,
USING CANDIDATE GENE APPROACH.
M. Causse 1, J.P. Rocher 2, J.L. Prioul 2 and D. de Vienne 1, 1
Station de Genetique Vegetale, INRA, CNRS-URA 1492, UPS, Ferme du
Moulon, 91190 Gif s/Yvette, France. 2 Structure et Metabolisme
des Plantes, Institut de Recherche sur les Plantes, CNRS-URA
1129, Bat 430, Universite Paris XI 91405 Orsay, France
Relationships between physiological traits and early growth
in maize has been studied in a population of recombinant inbred
lines using the QTL/RFLP methodology. The population has been
characterized for more than 100 RFLP marker loci in order to
detect marker-trait associations. A wide range of variation has
been found for growth traits as well as for the concentration of
carbohydrates and the activities of four key-enzymes of carbon
metabolism in leaves (sucrose phosphate synthase, ADP-glucose
pyrophosphorylase, invertase and sucrose synthase). Strong
correlations were found between growth rate and invertase
activity, which reflects sink organ strength. QTLS, located on
thirteen chromosomal regions, were detected for every trait.
Each region frequently concerned more than one trait. Common
location of QTLs for growth traits and activity of enzymes, such
as invertase and ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase were consistent
with physiological data. Some of the structural genes of the
key-enzymes appeared located close to or on the QTL for the
activity of the enzyme, emphasizing the role of these candidate
genes in physiological processes. Furthermore, these loci were
found to be involved in epistatic interactions, suggesting their
implication in regulation networks.
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