Quantitative trait loci associated to agronomic traits and yield components in a Sorghum bicolor L. Moench RIL population cultivated under pre-flowering drought and well-watered conditions

Abstract

The present study aims to identify QTL influencing agronomic traits and yield components under well-watered and pre-flowering drought stress conditions. One hundred F5 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) and the parental lines of a cross between a drought-tolerant and a susceptible line in a field experiment were carried out at Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Drought stress was induced by withholding irrigation water from the plants at four weeks after sowing to flowering. Leaf area of the third leaf, stem diameter, plant height, days to heading, anthesis and maturity, panicle length, number of seeds per plant, hundred kernel weight and grain yield were measured. Plants were genotyped with 117 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) and eight expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Composite interval mapping was carried out on the traits and significant QTL were claimed at a logarithm of the odds (LOD) score >2.5. A total of 50 QTL were detected on nine chromosomes or 13 linkage groups, respectively. Six promising QTL regions with seven QTL for yield and agronomic traits especially related to pre-flowering drought tolerance were identified on chromosomes SBI-01, SBI-03, SBI-04, SBI-05 and SBI-07.