Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Crop Improvement and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317285

Title: QTLs for Biomass and Developmental Traits in Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

Author
item LOWRY, DAVID - Michigan State University
item TAYLOR, SAMUEL - Bowdoin College
item BONNETTE, JASON - University Of Texas
item ASPINWALL, MICHAEL - Western Sydney University
item ASMUS, ASHLEY - University Of Texas
item KEITT, TIM - University Of Texas
item Tobias, Christian
item JUENGER, THOMAS - University Of Texas

Submitted to: BioEnergy Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/19/2015
Publication Date: 6/23/2015
Citation: Lowry, D., Taylor, S., Bonnette, J., Aspinwall, M., Asmus, A., Keitt, T., Tobias, C.M., Juenger, T. 2015. QTLs for Biomass and Developmental Traits in Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). BioEnergy Research. doi: 10.1007/s12155-015-9629-7.

Interpretive Summary: The tall prairie grass switchgrass is being developed as a bioenergy feedstock. Towards that goal, this study identified genetic regions in switchgrass controlling desirable traits. These chromosome regions were found to be responsible for variation in biomass, post-harvest regrowth, tiller angle, and other traits that could affect productivity such as leaf length and chlorophyll content. One of the most significant findings was that a region found to be associated with increased biomass had been implicated in a previous chromosome mapping study. This region could be the focus of further genetic analyses to narrow down the location of the gene(s) responsible and to identify closely linked molecular markers that could be used by breeders to incorporate this trait into their switchgrass populations.

Technical Abstract: Genetic and genomic resources have recently been developed for the bioenergy crop switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Despite these advances, little research has been focused on identifying genetic loci involved in natural variation of important bioenergy traits, including biomass. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping is typically used to discover loci that contribute to trait variation. Once identified, QTLs can be used to improve agronomically important traits through marker-assisted selection. In this study, we conducted QTL mapping in Austin, Texas with a full-sib mapping population (“Albany”) derived from a cross between tetraploid clones of two major switchgrass cultivars (Alamo-A4 and Kanlow-K5). We observed significant among-genotype variation for the vast majority of growth, morphological, and phenological traits measured on the Albany population. Overall, we discovered 27 significant QTLs across 23 traits. QTLs for biomass production colocalized on linkage group 9b across years, as well as with a major biomass QTL discovered in another recent switchgrass QTL study. The results of our study set the stage for future crop improvement through marker assisted selection breeding.