Genetic analysis and associated SRAP markers for horticultural traits of Aechmea bromeliads

Despite the great economic importance of bromeliads in flower production, little information is available regarding the inheritance of their horticultural traits thus far. The present study was to investigate the inheritance pattern and useful molecular markers for plant height, plant width, inflorescence length, inflorescence width, and offsets of Aechmea bromeliads. The result showed that plant height was governed by two pairs of major genes exhibiting equal additivity, plant width by one pair of major genes with additivity and partial dominance, inflorescence width by two pairs of major genes with additivity-dominance-epistasis, and offsets by two pairs of major genes with additivity-dominance, whereas no major gene was detected for inflorescence length. The heritability of the detected major genes was >73%, suggesting the possibility of selecting for these traits in an early generation. The marker-trait analysis identified 22 potential SRAP markers for the five traits. The findings of major genes and associated SRAP markers are a useful start to future QTL dissection for these traits.

► Horticultural traits of Aechmea bromeliads were first dissected with mixed model of major gene plus polygene and SRAP markers.
► Horticultural traits of Aechmea bromeliads were governed by varying number of major genes and polygenes with different kinds of genetic effects.
► Some useful SRAP markers related to these traits were detected.
► The findings of this study will contribute to future QTL dissection for these horticultural traits.