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Linkage analysis and identification of quantitative trait loci associated with freeze tolerance and turf quality traits in St. Augustinegrass

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Abstract

St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] is a warm-season turfgrass commonly grown in the southern USA. In this study, the first linkage map for all nine haploid chromosomes of the species was constructed for cultivar ‘Raleigh’ and cultivar ‘Seville’ using a pseudo-F2 mapping strategy. A total of 160 simple sequence repeat markers were mapped to nine linkage groups (LGs) covering a total distance of 1176.24 cM. To demonstrate the usefulness of the map, quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped controlling field winter survival, laboratory-based freeze tolerance, and turf quality traits. Multiple genomic regions associated with these traits were identified. Moreover, overlapping QTL were found for winterkill and spring green up on LG 3 (99.21 cM); turf quality, turf density, and leaf texture on LG 3 (68.57–69.50 cM); and surviving green tissue and regrowth on LGs 1 (38.31 cM), 3 (77.70 cM), 6 (49.51 cM), and 9 (34.20 cM). Additional regions, where QTL identified in both field and laboratory-based/controlled environment freeze testing co-located, provided strong support that these regions are good candidates for true gene locations. These results present the first complete linkage map produced for St. Augustinegrass, providing a template for further genetic mapping. Additionally, markers linked to the QTL identified may be useful to breeders for transferring these traits into new breeding lines and cultivars.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the personnel at the Upper Mountain Research Station (Laurel Springs, NC) and at the Turfgrass Field Lab (Raleigh, NC) for help maintaining research plots.

Funding

This research was supported in part by funding provided by the North Carolina Crop Improvement Association, the North Carolina State University Center for Turfgrass Environmental Research and Education, and by the Specialty Crop Research Initiative [2015-51181-24291] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, N.C. State University, Box 7620, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7620, USA

    Jennifer A. Kimball & Susana R. Milla-Lewis

  2. U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Tanduy D. Tuong & David P. Livingston III

  3. Department of Statistics, N.C. State University, Box 8203, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8203, USA

    Consuelo Arellano

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  1. Jennifer A. Kimball
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Correspondence to Susana R. Milla-Lewis.

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Kimball, J.A., Tuong, T.D., Arellano, C. et al. Linkage analysis and identification of quantitative trait loci associated with freeze tolerance and turf quality traits in St. Augustinegrass. Mol Breeding 38, 67 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-018-0817-y

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