Detection of Consensus Genomic Region of QTLs Relevant to Drought-Tolerance in Maize by QTL Meta-Analysis and Bioinformatics Approach

Mapping consensus genomic regions for drought-tolerance is of great importance in molecular breeding of maize (Zea mays L.). This study aimed to integrate published quantitative trait loci (QTLs) relevant to drought tolerance under water stress that were identified in different experiments. Based on the high-density linkage map of IBM2 2008 Neighbors, a total of 79 Meta-QTLs (MQTLs) were screened out through the methods of “overview” and meta-analysis, of which 43 (54.4%) contained information of genes conferring drought tolerance according to bioinformatic analysis. By integrating the genetic map and the physical map of maize via Genome Brower in maize genome database (http://www.maizegdb.org/), the physical map distance of MQTLs was estimated and the function of these candidate drought tolerance-related genomic regions was analyzed based on sequence information from the maize sequence database (http://www.maizesequence.org/). The results showed that these regions contained abundant sequences of transcription factors such as MYB, bZIP and DREB, and a number of functional genes of LEA family.

摘 要定位玉米基因组中一致的抗旱性区段是玉米抗旱分子育种的重要基础。本研究对至今发表的在干旱条件下定位的相关性状QTL信息搜集整理, 以IBM2 2008 Neighbors为参考图谱, 利用overview分析和元分析方法进行Meta-QTL (MQTL)检测, 共发掘79个MQTL, 生物信息学分析结果显示, 有43个区间内包含抗旱相关基因信息, 占检出MQTL总数的54.43%。基于MaizeGDB网站的Genome Browser中的遗传图谱与物理图谱的整合信息, 进行MQTL物理距离的估算, 根据Maizesequence网站的玉米基因组序列信息, 进行初步的抗旱基因预测表明, 这些区段中包含丰富的MYB、bZIP以及DREB转录因子序列信息以及大量的LEA基因家族成员。