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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #351687
Title: Genome-wide association mapping of loci for the rate of deterioration in fresh-cut lettuce

Author
item STHAPIT, JINITA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Mou, Beiquan
item Hayes, Ryan
item Simko, Ivan

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/2018
Publication Date: 7/18/2018
Citation: Sthapit, J., Mou, B., Hayes, R.J., Simko, I. 2018. Genome-wide association mapping of loci for the rate of deterioration in fresh-cut lettuce. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting, July 14-18, 2018, Montreal, Canada.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Lettuce is widely used in packaged leafy vegetable salads. Fresh-cut lettuce can have short shelf life and deterioration can occur within a week after processing. Deteriorated lettuce is not marketable, must be disposed, and results in the need for more lettuce to be grown, processed, and transported. Lettuce cultivars with extended shelf life will help reduce waste and increase efficiency. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed on a set of 498 lettuce accessions. The accessions were genotyped, and 4,615 high-quality, polymorphic, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were used for analyses. Four field experiments were performed at three locations in Salinas Valley, Calif. during 2016 and 2017 to assess their shelf life. Lettuce heads were harvested, processed into fresh-cut salad, and stored at 4°C for evaluations. Salad bags were visually evaluated weekly and deterioration assessed using the scale of 0 through 10, where the rating corresponds to 1/10th of the estimated percentage of deteriorated tissue. Mean area under deterioration progress stairs (AUDePS) was calculated for each accession. GWAS of shelf life data was performed by mixed linear model analyses; the genetic relationships among the individuals were incorporated into statistical models using principal component analysis and kinship matrix. Significant marker-trait associations (SMTA) were detected on Linkage Group 4 (LG4) in all experiments. The most significant P-value was 8.44E-14 that explained 15% of the total phenotypic variation (R2 = 0.15) of the trait. Major quantitative trait loci (QTL) for deterioration of fresh-cut lettuce were reported previously in LG4 in a recombinant inbred line population of Salinas 88 x La Brillante. Molecular markers closely linked with the trait QTL can be applied for selecting lettuce genotypes with a slow rate of deterioration and for identification of the gene(s) responsible for extended shelf life of fresh-cut lettuce.