Five QTL hotspots for yield in short rotation coppice bioenergy poplar: The Poplar Biomass Loci
Open Access
- 26 February 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in BMC Plant Biology
- Vol. 9 (1), 23
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-9-23
Abstract
Background: Concern over land use for non-food bioenergy crops requires breeding programmes that focus on producing biomass on the minimum amount of land that is economically-viable. To achieve this, the maximum potential yield per hectare is a key target for improvement. For long lived tree species, such as poplar, this requires an understanding of the traits that contribute to biomass production and their genetic control. An important aspect of this for long lived plants is an understanding of genetic interactions at different developmental stages, i.e. how genes or genetic regions impact on yield over time. Results: QTL mapping identified regions of genetic control for biomass yield. We mapped consistent QTL across multiple coppice cycles and identified five robust QTL hotspots on linkage groups III, IV, X, XIV and XIX, calling these 'Poplar Biomass Loci' (PBL 1–5). In total 20% of the variation in final harvest biomass yield was explained by mapped QTL. We also investigated the genetic correlations between yield related traits to identify 'early diagnostic' indicators of yield showing that early biomass was a reasonable predictor of coppice yield and that leaf size, cell number and stem and sylleptic branch number were also valuable traits. Conclusion: These findings provide insight into the genetic control of biomass production and correlation to 'early diagnostic' traits determining yield in poplar SRC for bioenergy. QTL hotspots serve as useful targets for directed breeding for improved biomass productivity that may also be relevant across additional poplar hybrids.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Nucleotide Polymorphism and Phenotypic Associations Within and Around the phytochrome B2 Locus in European Aspen (Populus tremula, Salicaceae)Genetics, 2008
- Yield and spatial supply of bioenergy poplar and willow short‐rotation coppice in the UKNew Phytologist, 2008
- Defining leaf traits linked to yield in short-rotation coppice SalixBiomass and Bioenergy, 2004
- Cytoscape: A Software Environment for Integrated Models of Biomolecular Interaction NetworksGenome Research, 2003
- Energy yields in intensive and extensive biomass production systemsBiomass and Bioenergy, 2002
- Quantitative genetics of growth and development in Populus. III. Phenotypic plasticity of crown structure and functionHeredity, 1998
- Short-rotation woody crop supply systems in the United States: what do we know and what do we need to know?Biomass and Bioenergy, 1998
- Estimating variance effect of QTL: an important prospect to increase the resolution power of interval mappingGenetics Research, 1996