Phenotypic variability in the F1 hybrid population of sea buckthorn and their association with SSR markers
摘要
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is an excellent shrub with both medicinal and food uses and ecological functions. However, the lack of genetic analyses and molecular markers for traits has limited their genetic improvement. In this study, we phenotyped and genetically analysed 120 F1 progeny of crosses between H. rhamnoides subsp. mongolica 'wulanshalin' and H. rhamnoides subsp. sinensis 'wucixiong'. We assessed the growth-related traits and chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of the F1 populations and performed correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). The results revealed that the major traits of the observed hybrid progeny varied widely. In addition, we performed genetic analyses of the hybrid progeny using SSR markers and association analysis with phenotypic traits based on a mixed linear model (MLM). We identified genetic loci associated with various leaf and seedling traits in sea buckthorn. Specifically, we detected two loci for leaf area (LA), one for leaf perimeter (LP), one for leaf length (LL), two for ground diameter (GD), two for crown width (CW) and one for internodal distance (ID). These findings provide valuable insights for the targeted improvement of sea buckthorn through marker-assisted selection in breeding programs.