eQTL mapping of candidate genes for flower colour as a model for genetical genomics in Azalea

By its production of approximately 40 million plants per year, azalea (Rhododendron simsii hybrids) is the most important flowering pot plant in Belgium . Flower colour is one of the most important features for azalea breeding. In azalea, flower colour is inherited as a semi-qualitative trait and is mainly determined by differences in anthocyanin and flavonol levels. Its segregation pattern could be explained by a two-gene model (Heursel and Horn 1977). Gene expression of flower colour genes was studied before in an azalea sporting series (De Keyser et al. 2007). Flower colour has served as a model system ever since the beginning of genetics with Mendel and his peas. The multi-disciplinary knowledge on flower colour in azalea made it therefore a perfect model for genetical genomics. Genetical genomics (Jansen and Nap 2001) became available with the introduction of microarrays for gene expression profiling. However, for minor crops this is not an option. cDNA-AFLP was proposed as an alternative profiling method (Vuylsteke et al. 2006) but this technique cannot handle candidate genes directly. The use of RT-qPCR data for eQTL mapping was not reported before in plant genomics, but is reported here as a valuable alternative for eQTL mapping.

Jaar van publicatie:2012