A sulfotransferase gene BnSOT-like1 has a minor genetic effect on seed glucosinolate content in Brassica napus

The theory and associated selection methods of classical quantitative genetics are based on the multifactorial or polygene hypothesis.Major genes or quantitative trait loci(QTL)in modern quantitative genetics based on a“major gene plus polygenes”genetic system have been paid much attention in genetic studies.However,it remains unclear how the numerous minor genes act,although the polygene theory has sustained genetic improvement in plants and animals for more than a hundred years.In the present study,we identified a novel minor gene,BnSOT-like1(BnaA09g53490D),which is a sulfotransferase(SOT)gene catalyzing the formation of the core glucosinolate(GSL)structure in Brassica napus.This gene has been occasionally found during investigations of plant height-related genes,but has not been identified by QTL mapping because of its small phenotypic effects on GSL content.The overexpression of BnSOT-like1 up-regulated the expression of aliphatic GSL-associated genes,leading to a high seed aliphatic GSL content,and the overexpression of the allelic gene Bnsot-like1 did not increase seed GSL content.These findings suggest that the SOT gene has a marked effect on a quantitative trait from a reverse genetics standpoint,but a minor effect on the quantitative trait in its natural biological state.Because of the redundancy of GSL biosynthetic genes in the allotetraploid species B.napus,mutations of a single functional gene in the pathway will not result in significant phenotypic changes,and that the genes in biosynthetic pathways such as BnSOT-like1 in our study have minor effects and may be called polygenes in contrast to the reported three regulatory genes(BnHAG1s)which strongly affect GSL content in B.napus.The present study has shed light on a minor gene for a quantitative trait.

Diversity and association analysis of important agricultural trait based on miniature inverted-repeat transposable element specific marker in Brassica napus L.

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements(MITEs)are a group of DNA transposable element(TE)which preferentially distributed with gene associated regions.Tens of MITEs families have been revealed in Brassica napus genome,they scatter across the genome with tens of thousands copies and produce polymorphisms both intra-and inter-species.Our previous studies revealed a Tourist-like MITE,Monkey King,associated with vernalization requirement of B.napus,however there are still few studies reveal MITE association with agricultural traits in B.napus.In the present study,80 polymorphic markers were developed from 55 MITEs,and used to evaluate genetic diversity in a panel of B.napus accessions consisting of 101 natural and 25 synthetic genotypes.Five agricultural traits,oil content,glucosinolate content,erucic acid content,weight of thousand seeds(WTS)and plant height,were investigated across 3-years field experiments,in addition,two traits,hypocotyl length and root length,were evaluated at the 4-leaf stage in the laboratory.Correlations between the MITE-based markers and seven traits were analyzed,finally,10 polymorphic markers produced by 6 pairs of MITE specific primers were revealed relatively high correlation with 5 traits.Two polymorphic markers were anchored with two candidate genes,BnaA02g13530D and BnaA08g20010D,respectively,which may contribute to glucosinolate content and WTS.This research may contribute to genetic improvement through utilization of MITE-induced polymorphisms in Brassica species.