Comparison between marker-assisted selection and phenotypical selection in a set of Arabidopsis thaliana recombinant inbred lines

Parents were selected from a well-characterised Arabidopsis recombinant inbred line (RIL) population based on (1) their phenotype for flowering time or (2) marker and QTL information that had been assessed previously. The F-2 offspring obtained from pairs of selected RILs was analysed for these traits, and the results obtained with these two methods of selection were compared. Selection based on marker and QTL information gave approximately the same result as selection based on phenotype. The relative high heritability of flowering time in Arabidopsis facilitated successful phenotypical selection. The difference in selection result that was anticipated to be in favour of the marker-assisted approach was therefore not observed.