Seasonal and plant-density dependency for quantitative trait loci affecting flowering time in multiple populations of Arabidopsis thaliana.

BOTTO, JF & COLUCCIO MP

Plant Cell & Environment

Año: 2007 p. 1465 - 1479

Abstract Multiple environmental cues regulate the transition to flowering. In natural environments, plants perceive seasonal progression by changes in day length and growth temperature. Meanwhile plant density is monitored by changes in the light quality reflected from neighboring vegetation. To understand the seasonal and plant-density dependency associated to the natural allelic variation in flowering time, we conducted a QTL study in Ler x Cvi, Bay x Sha and Ler x No-0 RIL populations of Arabidopsis thaliana growth under glasshouse conditions. Two flowering-related traits (i.e., days and total leaf number to bolting) were analyzed separately and the QTL detected mapped in most cases to the same intervals, indicating pleiotropy at these loci. We found 4 to 10 QTL associated to seasonal and density variations in each RIL population. A major proportion of QTL showed seasonal and density interaction (up to 63%) and at least four QTL were common to all environments (21%). Few QTL showed seasonal or density dependency (close to 16%). By aligning the linkage maps onto a common physical map, we detected one QTL at chromosome 2 and two QTL at chromosome 5 that overlap between the three RIL populations suggesting a primordial role in the control of flowering time. These findings demonstrate that the use of natural ecological settings and multiple populations improve our understanding of the QTL architecture of flowering time.