The genetic architecture of floral traits in the woody plant Prunus mume

Qixiang Zhang, He Zhang, Lidan Sun, Guangyi Fan, Meixia Ye, Libo Jiang, Xin Liu, Kaifeng Ma, Chengcheng Shi, Fei Bao, Rui Guan, Yu Han, Yuanyuan Fu, Huitang Pan, Zhaozhe Chen, Liangwei Li, Jia Wang, Meiqi Lv, Tangchun Zheng, Cunquan YuanYuzhen Zhou, Simon Ming Yuen Lee, Xiaolan Yan, Xun Xu, Rongling Wu, Wenbin Chen, Tangren Cheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mei (Prunus mume) is an ornamental woody plant that has been domesticated in East Asia for thousands of years. High diversity in floral traits, along with its recent genome sequence, makes mei an ideal model system for studying the evolution of woody plants. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of floral traits in mei and its domestication history by sampling and resequencing a total of 351 samples including 348 mei accessions and three other Prunus species at an average sequencing depth of 19.3×. Highly-admixed population structure and introgression from Prunus species are identified in mei accessions. Through a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identify significant quantitative traits locus (QTLs) and genomic regions where several genes, such as MYB108, are positively associated with petal color, stigma color, calyx color, and bud color. Results from this study shed light on the genetic basis of domestication in flowering plants, particularly woody plants.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1702
JournalNature communications
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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