In:
Nature Communications, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 6, No. 1 ( 2015-02-05)
Abstract:
Exploitation of heterosis is one of the most important applications of genetics in agriculture. However, the genetic mechanisms of heterosis are only partly understood, and a global view of heterosis from a representative number of hybrid combinations is lacking. Here we develop an integrated genomic approach to construct a genome map for 1,495 elite hybrid rice varieties and their inbred parental lines. We investigate 38 agronomic traits and identify 130 associated loci. In-depth analyses of the effects of heterozygous genotypes reveal that there are only a few loci with strong overdominance effects in hybrids, but a strong correlation is observed between the yield and the number of superior alleles. While most parental inbred lines have only a small number of superior alleles, high-yielding hybrid varieties have several. We conclude that the accumulation of numerous rare superior alleles with positive dominance is an important contributor to the heterotic phenomena.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2041-1723
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2553671-0