[National Research Projects]  Mating designs derived from multiple parents and its genetic analysis

Supervised by: Huihui Li

Project code: 31000540

Period: Jan 2011 to Dec 2013

Abstract:

QTL mapping, including linkage analysis and association mapping, is a routine way to genetic dissection of quantitative traits. Genetic analysis based on populations derived from multiple parents combines the merits of both linkage mapping and association mapping approaches, while avoiding the limitations of both approaches. Thus the use of multi-parental population is becoming a hot research area in quantitative genetics. In this project, we will study the genetic and breeding efficiencies of different mating designs upon the development of the mating design simulation tools. We will genetically and statistically analyze the nested association mapping (NAM) design, propose the appropriate QTL mapping methods in NAM populations, and evaluate the method’s effectiveness by computer simulations and field experiments. We will implement the new statistical methods in QTL mapping software QTL IciMapping. The tools, developed in this project, for simulating mating designs from multiple parents will provide a useful way to compare the effectiveness of different designs. The statistical methods for NAM population will map QTL and estimate QTL effect precisely. These results will enrich and further improve the analysis of quantitative traits in plants.