J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2019, Vol. 61 ›› Issue (6): 675-690.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.12811

Special Issue: Crop yield

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Genetic mapping of folate QTLs using a segregated population in maize

Wenzhu Guo1†, Tong Lian2,3†, Baobao Wang3†, Jiantao Guan4†, Dong Yuan5, Huan Wang3, Fardous Mohammad Safiul Azam3, Xing Wan6, Weixuan Wang3, Qiuju Liang3, Haiyang Wang3, Jinxing Tu1, Chunyi Zhang3 and Ling Jiang3*   

  1. 1College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
    2Plant Genetics, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux 5030, Belgium
    3Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
    4Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
    5Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu Normal University, Jinan 250200, China
    6School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

    These authors contributed equally to this work.
    *Correspondence:

    Email: Ling Jiang(jiangling@caas.cn)
  • Received:2018-12-21 Accepted:2019-03-25 Online:2019-04-02 Published:2019-06-01

Abstract: As essential B vitamin for humans, folates accumulation in edible parts of crops, such as maize kernels, is of great importance for human health. But its breeding is always limited by the prohibitive cost of folate profiling. The molecular breeding is a more executable and efficient way for folate fortification, but is limited by the molecular knowledge of folate regulation. Here we report the genetic mapping of folate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) using a segregated population crossed by two maize lines, one high in folate (GEMS31) and the other low in folate (DAN3130). Two folate QTLs on chromosome 5 were obtained by the combination of F2 whole-exome sequencing and F3 kernel-folate profiling. These two QTLs had been confirmed by bulk segregant analysis using F6 pooled DNA and F7 kernel-folate profiling, and were overlapped with QTLs identified by another segregated population. These two QTLs contributed 41.6% of phenotypic variation of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, the most abundant storage form among folate derivatives in dry maize grains, in the GEMS31×DAN3130 population. Their fine mapping and functional analysis will reveal details of folate metabolism, and provide a basis for marker-assisted breeding aimed at the enrichment of folates in maize kernels.

Editorial Office, Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, Institute of Botany, CAS
No. 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
Tel: +86 10 6283 6133 Fax: +86 10 8259 2636 E-mail: jipb@ibcas.ac.cn
Copyright © 2022 by the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Online ISSN: 1744-7909 Print ISSN: 1672-9072 CN: 11-5067/Q
备案号:京ICP备16067583号-22