1. Fruit self-thinning: a trait to consider for genetic improvement of apple tree
- Author
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Marie José James, Evelyne Costes, Amina Khelifi Touhami, Charles-Eric Durel, François Laurens, Jean-Jacques Kelner, Sébastien Martinez, Jean-Marc Celton, Abdel Bechti, Amélioration génétique et adaptation des plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales (UMR AGAP), Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (IRHS), Université d'Angers (UA)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Pépinières et Roseraies G. Delbard, department BAP (Plant Biology and Breeding), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces Fruitières [AGAP] (AFEF), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), and Costes, Evelyne
- Subjects
[SDV.SA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences ,Candidate gene ,Heredity ,Genetic Linkage ,Ingénierie des aliments ,lcsh:Medicine ,Plant Science ,Plant Genetics ,Trees ,Contig Mapping ,[SDV.IDA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food engineering ,lcsh:Science ,[SDV.BDD]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Development Biology ,2. Zero hunger ,Vegetal Biology ,auto-éclaircie ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Biologie du développement ,food and beverages ,Agriculture ,Genomics ,Plants ,Trait Locus ,Development Biology ,environnement ,Agricultural sciences ,rentabilité ,Horticulture ,Phenotypes ,Phenotype ,Inflorescence ,Malus ,Alimentation et Nutrition ,Trait ,Research Article ,déterminisme génétique ,Genotype ,conduite de la plante ,Quantitative Trait Loci ,Apple tree ,Crops ,Quantitative trait locus ,Genes, Plant ,Fruits ,Abscission ,Xylem ,Botany ,Genetics ,Food engineering ,Food and Nutrition ,[SDV.BV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology ,Plant breeding ,Biology ,Crosses, Genetic ,arboriculture ,Models, Genetic ,Quantitative Traits ,fungi ,lcsh:R ,15. Life on land ,biology.organism_classification ,Sustainable Agriculture ,Plant Breeding ,Fruit ,éclaircissage chimique ,malus domestica borkh ,lcsh:Q ,[SDV.AEN]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food and Nutrition ,Sciences agricoles ,Biologie végétale ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
In apple (Malus x domestica Borkh), as in many fruiting crops, fruit maintenance vs abscission is a major criteria for production profitability. Growers routinely make use of chemical thinning agents to control total fruit load. However, serious threats for the environment lead to the demand for new apple cultivars with self-thinning properties. In this project, we studied the genetic determinism of this trait using a F1 progeny derived from the cross between the hybrid INRA X3263, assumed to possess the self-thinning trait, and the cultivar ‘Belre`ne’. Both counting and percentage variables were considered to capture the fruiting behaviour on different shoot types and over three consecutive years. Besides low to moderate but significant genetic effects, mixed models showed considerable effects of the year and the shoot type, as well as an interaction effect. Year effect resulted mainly from biennial fruiting. Eight Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) were detected on several linkage groups (LG), either independent or specific of the year of observation or the shoot type. The QTL with highest LOD value was located on the top third of LG10. The screening of three QTL zones for candidate genes revealed a list of transcription factors and genes involved in fruit nutrition, xylem differentiation, plant responses to starvation and organ abscission that open new avenues for further molecular investigations. The detailed phenotyping performed revealed the dependency between the self-thinning trait and the fruiting status of the trees. Despite a moderate genetic control of the self-thinning trait, QTL and candidate genes were identified which will need further analyses involving other progenies and molecular investigations.
- Published
- 2014
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