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Quantitative trait locus analysis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation activity in the model legume Lotus japonicus

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Abstract

Many legumes form nitrogen-fixing root nodules. An elevation of nitrogen fixation in such legumes would have significant implications for plant growth and biomass production in agriculture. To identify the genetic basis for the regulation of nitrogen fixation, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was conducted with recombinant inbred lines derived from the cross Miyakojima MG-20 × Gifu B-129 in the model legume Lotus japonicus. This population was inoculated with Mesorhizobium loti MAFF303099 and grown for 14 days in pods containing vermiculite. Phenotypic data were collected for acetylene reduction activity (ARA) per plant (ARA/P), ARA per nodule weight (ARA/NW), ARA per nodule number (ARA/NN), NN per plant, NW per plant, stem length (SL), SL without inoculation (SLbac−), shoot dry weight without inoculation (SWbac−), root length without inoculation (RLbac−), and root dry weight (RWbac−), and finally 34 QTLs were identified. ARA/P, ARA/NN, NW, and SL showed strong correlations and QTL co-localization, suggesting that several plant characteristics important for symbiotic nitrogen fixation are controlled by the same locus. QTLs for ARA/P, ARA/NN, NW, and SL, co-localized around marker TM0832 on chromosome 4, were also co-localized with previously reported QTLs for seed mass. This is the first report of QTL analysis for symbiotic nitrogen fixation activity traits.

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Acknowledgments

F8 seeds of L. japonicus recombinant inbred lines (RILs) provided by the National Bio-resource Project of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. We are grateful to L. Suriyagoda for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant no. 21380016 to A.S.), the Takano Life Science Research Foundation (Grant to A.S.), and the Sumitomo Foundation (Grant to A.S.), and the Foundation for Research Fellowships of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists (DC2) (Grant no. 23-3498 to A.T.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, 890-0065, Japan

    Akiyoshi Tominaga, Susumu Arima & Akihiro Suzuki

  2. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Honjyo-machi, Saga, 840-8502, Japan

    Akiyoshi Tominaga, Susumu Arima & Akihiro Suzuki

  3. Frontier Science Research Center, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan

    Takahiro Gondo & Ryo Akashi

  4. Coastal Bioenvironment Center, Saga University, Saga, 847-0021, Japan

    Shao-hui Zheng

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  1. Akiyoshi Tominaga
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  2. Takahiro Gondo
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  3. Ryo Akashi
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  4. Shao-hui Zheng
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  5. Susumu Arima
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  6. Akihiro Suzuki
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Correspondence to Akihiro Suzuki.

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Tominaga, A., Gondo, T., Akashi, R. et al. Quantitative trait locus analysis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation activity in the model legume Lotus japonicus . J Plant Res 125, 395–406 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-011-0459-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-011-0459-1

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