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
. 2022 Sep 12:13:994666.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.994666. eCollection 2022.

Quantitative trait loci mapping reveals important genomic regions controlling root architecture and shoot biomass under nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium stress in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Nazir Ahmad  1 , Sani Ibrahim  1 , Ze Tian  1 , Lieqiong Kuang  1 , Xinfa Wang  1   2 , Hanzhong Wang  1   2 , Xiaoling Dun  1
Affiliations

Quantitative trait loci mapping reveals important genomic regions controlling root architecture and shoot biomass under nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium stress in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Nazir Ahmad et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Plants rely on root systems for nutrient uptake from soils. Marker-assisted selection helps breeders to select desirable root traits for effective nutrient uptake. Here, 12 root and biomass traits were investigated at the seedling stage under low nitrogen (LN), low phosphorus (LP), and low potassium (LK) conditions, respectively, in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, which was generated from Brassica napus L. Zhongshuang11 and 4D122 with significant differences in root traits and nutrient efficiency. Significant differences for all the investigated traits were observed among RILs, with high heritabilities (0.43-0.74) and high correlations between the different treatments. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping identified 57, 27, and 36 loci, explaining 4.1-10.9, 4.6-10.8, and 4.9-17.4% phenotypic variances under LN, LP, and LK, respectively. Through QTL-meta analysis, these loci were integrated into 18 significant QTL clusters. Four major QTL clusters involved 25 QTLs that could be repeatedly detected and explained more than 10% phenotypic variances, including two NPK-common and two specific QTL clusters (K and NK-specific), indicating their critical role in cooperative nutrients uptake of N, P, and K. Moreover, 264 genes within the four major QTL clusters having high expressions in roots and SNP/InDel variations between two parents were identified as potential candidate genes. Thirty-eight of them have been reported to be associated with root growth and development and/or nutrient stress tolerance. These key loci and candidate genes lay the foundation for deeper dissection of the NPK starvation response mechanisms in B. napus.

Keywords: Brassica napus L.; QTL mapping; candidate genes; major QTL; nutrient uptake.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Phenotype of the rapeseed parental lines ZS11 and 4D122 after 3 weeks under hydroponic conditions. (B) Comparison of parents (ZS11 and 4D122) for the investigated traits under LN/LP/LK. ** and * Significant at 1 and 5% levels of probability, respectively.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Correlation, frequency distribution and scatter plot analysis of the investigated root and biomass traits. (A) Correlations of captured traits under LN/LP/LK. (B) Correlations of each captured trait among the four treatment conditions (CK/LN/LP/LK). **, * Significant at 1 and 5% levels of probability, respectively.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Information of loci detected for RMT and BT under LN/LP/LK conditions. (A) Distribution of loci on 19 linkage groups for RMT and BT under LN-stress conditions. (B) Distribution of loci on 19 linkage groups for RMT and BT under LP-stress conditions. (C) Distribution of loci on 19 linkage groups for RMT and BT under LK-stress conditions. Different colors shows the investigated traits.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Information of quantitative trait loci (QTL) clusters in recombinant inbred line (RIL) population under LN/LP/LK conditions.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Heat map and protein interaction network analysis for the candidate genes within the major quantitative trait loci (QTL) clusters. (A) Expression profiles of candidate genes in eight distinct tissues; Heat map is based on the log2 (TPM+1) values. (B) Protein interaction network analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Alcock T. D., Havlickova L., He Z., Wilson L., Bancroft I., White P. J., et al. (2018). Species-wide variation in shoot nitrate concentration, and genetic loci controlling nitrate, phosphorus and potassium accumulation in Brassica napus L. Front. Plant Sci. 871:1487. 10.3389/fpls.2018.01487 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amoah N. K. A., Akromah R., Kena A. W., Manneh B., Dieng I., Bimpong I. K. (2020). Mapping QTLs for tolerance to salt stress at the early seedling stage in rice (Oryza sativa L.) using a newly identified donor ‘Madina Koyo’. Euphytica 216:156. 10.1007/s10681-020-02689-5 - DOI
    1. Araus V., Vidal E. A., Puelma T., Alamos S., Mieulet D., Guiderdoni E., et al. (2016). Members of BTB gene family of scaffold proteins suppress nitrate uptake and nitrogen use efficiency. Plant Physiol. 171 1523–1532. 10.1104/pp.15.01731 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armengaud P., Breitling R., Amtmann A. (2010). Coronatine-insensitive 1 (COI1) mediates transcriptional responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to external potassium supply. Mol. Plant 3 390–405. 10.1093/mp/ssq012 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Atkinson J. A., Pound M. P., Bennett M. J., Wells D. M. (2019). Uncovering the hidden half of plants using new advances in root phenotyping. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 55 1–8. 10.1016/j.copbio.2018.06.002 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources