A complex network of QTL for thousand-kernel weight in the rye genome.

Here, QTL mapping for thousand-kernel weight carried out within a 541 × Ot1-3 population of recombinant inbred lines using high-density DArT-based map and three methods (single-marker analysis with F parametric test, marker analysis with the Kruskal-Wallis K* nonparametric test, and the recently developed analysis named genes interaction assorting by divergent selection with χ test) revealed 28 QTL distributed over all seven rye chromosomes. The first two methods showed a high level of consistency in QTL detection. Each of 13 QTL revealed in the course of gene interaction assorting by divergent selection analysis coincided with those detected by the two other methods, confirming the reliability of the new approach to QTL mapping.

Genetic analysis carried out in population tails reveals diverse two-loci interactions as a basic factor of quantitative traits variation in rye.

Bidirectional selective genotyping carried out independently for five quantitative traits within a biparental population of recombinant inbred lines of rye has revealed dramatic changes in alleles distribution in the population tails. A given allele, predominant in the lower tail, is often neutral for reversely directed selection or associates with the upper tail following divergent selection for a related trait. Such radical changes in the alleles distribution cannot be explained by differences in genotypic values within a single locus.