Genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci associated with fiber and lignin content in rice

Rice straw represents a significant energy source for ruminant animals, and fibers and lignin contents of rice straw are negatively related to intake potential of forages. For improvement of the digestibility of rice straw, it is necessary to understand the genetic basis of the related traits. In present study, mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL) was carried out using a doubled haploid (DH) population derived from a cross between indica variety Zai-Ye-Qing 8 (ZYQ8) and japonica variety Jing-Xi 17 (JX17). The results indicated that all three parameters were continuously distributed among the DH lines, but many DH lines showed transgressive segregation for all the three traits. A total of three main-effect QTLs were identified for ADF and ADL, two of which, qADF-9 and qADL-9, shared the same region on chromosome 9. These two main-effect QTLs explained more than 20% of the total phenotypic variations, whereas the other QTL, qADF-5, explained 12.8% of the total phenotypic variation for ADF. In addition, another two epistatic QTLs, qADF-2 and qADF-3 could explain 17.6% of the total variations. Thus, we concluded that both main-effects and epistatic QTLs were important in controlling the genetic basis of ADF.