Characterization and mapping of QTL used in breeding of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

Przemysław Szmit

This paper reports the construction a map based on Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphic DNA (AFLP) in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The main purpose of map construction was its application to quantitative traits loci (QTL) mapping for breeding traits economically important in Scots pine breeding program such as tree height and diameter at breast height, number of needles and their length, width, and area. Genomic DNA of needles and haploid megagamethophytes from seeds originating from a single tree were amplified with 25 AFLP primer-enzyme combinations with three or four selective nucleotides. Sixteen of them generated easily readable patterns and revealed a polymorphism. Each analyzed marker was tested for the expected 1 : 1 segregation ratio using χ2 – test and only 6 were significant with (α ≤ 0.05). The total map size equaled 291,7 cM and all markers were distributed within one linkage group. For all traits only one QTL associated with tree height (H) was detected.