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Title: TETRASOMIC LINKAGE MAPPING OF RFLP, PCR, AND ISOZYME LOCI IN LOTUS CORNICULATUS L.

Author
item Fjellstrom, Robert
item Steiner, Jeffrey
item Beuselinck, Paul

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/23/2002
Publication Date: 5/1/2003
Citation: FJELLSTROM,R.G., STEINER,J.J., BEUSELINCK,P.R., TETRASOMIC LINKAGE MAPPING OF RFLP, PCR, AND ISOZYME LOCI IN LOTUS CORNICULATUS L., CROP SCIENCE 43:1006-1020. 2003

Interpretive Summary: Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is a forage legume in which there have been limited inheritance studies conducted. Birdsfoot trefoil is grown for pasture grazing, hay, and silage on more than 3 million acres in North America. Advances made by utilizing genetically mapped markers in plant breeding are becoming well documented, as they are used for mapping genes controlling valuable characteristics, studying genetic diversity, and marker aided selection in plant breeding. Unfortunately, birdsfoot trefoil cannot benefit from such advances since this species has no genetic map. The objectives for this research were to develop a genetic map and characterize the genome of birdsfoot trefoil using molecular markers. A genetic map for the six chromosomes of birdsfoot trefoil was constructed using inheritance information and analysis of 234 DNA (RFLP, RAPD, ISSR, and STS) and protein markers. This first genetic map for birdsfoot trefoil serves to provide a foundation for the genetic analysis of complex traits and marker aided selection for trefoil improvement.

Technical Abstract: Lotus corniculatus (birdsfoot trefoil) is a tetrasomic forage legume in which there has been limited inheritance studies conducted. The purpose for this research was to develop a genetic map and characterize the genome of L. corniculatus using molecular markers. A linkage map was constructed for L. corniculatus using information from 226 single-dose RFLP, RAPD, ISSR, STS, and isozyme markers and eight double-dose RFLP markers. Six composite linkage groups were constructed from the combined data of four homologous linkage groups anchored by shared RFLP loci. Three of the composite groups (Groups-2, -3, and -4) were well defined, two groups (Groups-5 and -6) were poorly discriminated because of apparent marker duplication found between them, and one group (Group 1) was poorly defined because of an apparently high degree of differentiation between its homologous members. This first genetic map for L. corniculatus spans 590.7 cM and serves to provide a foundation for the genetic analysis of complex traits and marker aided selection.