Bidirectional selective genotyping approach for the identification of quantitative trait loci controlling earliness per se in winter rye (Secale cereale L.)

The genes controlling earliness of plants include genes responsible for vernalisation (Vrn) and photoperiod (Ppd), and those that are not entirely associated with a response to temperature or light. The last group of loci is known as earliness per se (Eps). Eps genes have been most commonly reported in the scientific literature as quantitative trait loci (QTL). The objective of this study was to use a bidirectional selective genotyping (BSG) method for the identification of loci controlling Eps, assessed at the heading stage in a newly developed rye population of recombinant inbred lines. We identified four linkage groups representing fragments of chromosomes, 1R, 5R, 6R and 7R, and containing, in total, 155 DArT markers significantly associated with earliness in rye. The results are discussed in the context of previously published QTL analyses.