A-maize-ing Diversity
A-maize-ing Diversity
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1178420
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发表时间：
2009-08
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
T. Mackay
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
T. Mackay
对一种新的玉米资源的分析表明，大量的遗传位点与小的影响可能是在开花时间等性状上看到的广泛变化的基础。玉米（Zea mays）——玉米——是世界上大部分地区的主要食物来源，也是食用油、谷物酒精、牲畜饲料和生物燃料的来源。由于多个数量性状位点（qtl）上的等位基因变异对环境敏感，玉米品系间的重要农艺性状存在巨大的数量变异。了解这种变异的遗传基础（见图）将是选择性育种计划的一大福音，但由于绘制潜在qtl的困难，一直受到阻碍。在本期的第714和737页（1,2），Buckler和他的同事描述了一种用于绘制玉米数量性状的新资源的遗传特性(3)，并讨论了一个关键性状——开花时间的遗传结构。
Analysis of a new maize resource reveals that a large number of genetic loci with small effects may underlie the wide variation seen in traits such as flowering time. Maize (Zea mays)—corn—is a staple food source in much of the world, as well as a source of cooking oil, grain alcohol, livestock feed, and biofuel. There is enormous quantitative variation among maize strains for traits of agronomic importance, due to allelic variation at multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with effects that are sensitive to the environment. Knowledge of the genetic basis of this variation (see the figure) would be a major boon to selective breeding programs, but has been hindered by the difficulty of mapping the underlying QTLs. On pages 714 and 737 of this issue (1, 2), Buckler and colleagues describe the genetic properties of a new resource for mapping maize quantitative traits (3), and discuss the genetic architecture of a key trait—flowering time—derived from it.