Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jun 12:7:30.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2229-7-30.

QTL mapping of agronomic traits in tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter]

Ju-Kyung Yu  1 , Elizabeth Graznak, Flavio Breseghello, Hailu Tefera, Mark E Sorrells
Affiliations

QTL mapping of agronomic traits in tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter]

Ju-Kyung Yu et al. BMC Plant Biol. .

Abstract

Background: Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cereal crop in Ethiopia. Tef is an allotetraploid with a base chromosome number of 10 (2n = 4x = 40) and a genome size of 730 Mbp. The goal of this study was to identify agronomically important quantitative trait loci (QTL) using recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from an inter-specific cross between E. tef and E. pilosa (30-5).

Results: Twenty-two yield-related and morphological traits were assessed across eight different locations in Ethiopia during the growing seasons of 1999 and 2000. Using composite interval mapping and a linkage map incorporating 192 loci, 99 QTLs were identified on 15 of the 21 linkage groups for 19 traits. Twelve QTLs on nine linkage groups were identified for grain yield. Clusters of more than five QTLs for various traits were identified on seven linkage groups. The largest cluster (10 QTLs) was identified on linkage group 8; eight of these QTLs were for yield or yield components, suggesting linkage or pleotrophic effects of loci. There were 15 two-way interactions of loci to detect potential epistasis identified and 75% of the interactions were derived from yield and shoot biomass. Thirty-one percent of the QTLs were observed in multiple environments; two yield QTLs were consistent across all agro-ecology zones. For 29.3% of the QTLs, the alleles from E. pilosa (30-5) had a beneficial effect.

Conclusion: The extensive QTL data generated for tef in this study will provide a basis for initiating molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits in this staple food crop for the people of Ethiopia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular linkage map with positions of QTLs for 19 traits on tef RIL population; E. tef × E. pilosa (30-5). The genetic distance in centimorgans (cM) is given on the left at the top. Six linkage groups are not presented because they did not contain significant QTLs. QTLs with the increasing effect contributed by E. pilosa (30-5) are in boldface.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Authority CS. Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia 2004 (1996 EC) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 2004.
    1. Tefera H. Inheritance of morphological and agronomic traits in tef (Eragrostis tef) J Genet and Breed. 2002;56:353–358.
    1. Ketema S. Tef (Eragrostis tef): Breeding, agronomy, genetic resources, utilization, and role in Ethiopian agriculture. Institute of Agricultural Research, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia; 1993.
    1. Wartson L, Dallwitz WJ. The grass genera of the world. Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CAB International; 1992.
    1. Ingram AL, Doyle JJ. The origin and evolution of Eragrostis tef (Poaceae) and related polyploids: Evidence from unclear waxy and plastid rps 16. Am J Botany. 2003;90:116–122. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources