Scientists in China Develop New QTL Mapping Method to Find Genes

Biotechnology has long promised to facilitate breeders’ work, also through methods that provide breeders with information about the crop genes associated with physiological traits of importance. This information is relatively simple to obtain for traits governed by only one or two genes in the plant. However, when it comes to traits that have a more complex genetic basis, such as yield potential or drought tolerance, classical Mendelian rules of inheritance simply do not apply very well to them.

To solve this problem, geneticist Jiankang Wang with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), along with colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), have developed a new mapping method and software for quantitative trait loci (QTL), which are segments of a plant’s DNA associated with areas where one important gene or a concentration of several genes that contribute to physiological traits of interest can be found.

“The newly-developed QTL mapping method and software will help breeders use genetic data from CGIAR centers and national agricultural research systems to mine novel genes, acquire more complete genetic knowledge for quantitative traits of interest, and conduct efficient genotypic selection,” says Wang. “Farmers will benefit from having higher yielding, more disease resistant, and more drought tolerant rice, maize, and wheat varieties with better grain quality.”
http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/2007/may/genefinders.htm