Open Access

ARTICLE

Association Analysis of the Growth of Black Poplar (Populus Nigra L.) Under Contrasting Nitrogen Levels

Xihua Liu¹, Changjun Ding², Xiaohua Su^2,*

1 Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Monitoring & Sustainable Management and Utilization, Sanming University, Sanming, 36504, China.
2 Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation, State Forestry Administration, Beijing, 100091, China.

* Corresponding Author: Xiaohua Su. Email: .

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2019, 88(4), 425-433. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2019.08285

Abstract

The European black poplar (Populus nigra L.) has been used as a germplasm resource for the breeding of new poplar varieties around the world. The identification and screening of its high nitrogen use efficiency genotypes could enable the breeding of new resource-efficient poplar varieties. The accessions were screened using MALDI-TOF MS genotyping technology for ammonium transporter (AMT) and nitrate transporters (NRT) genes against phenotypic data for seedling height and ground diameter traits, in both low and high nitrogen environments. Allele re-sequencing of seven genes related to root development was carried out using the minisequencing method. By cluster analysis, 101 accessions of black poplar were divided into 4 populations, and it was concluded that Central Europe is the origin of the evolution of low-nitrogen and highefficiency populations of European black poplar. Association study between SNP typing and seedling height and ground diameter traits showed that there were significant correlations between four SNP loci and growth traits under the contrasting N levels. We found that SNP3 and SNP4 in the PttAMT1;3 gene were significantly associated with seedling height traits, and that SNP2 and SNP7 in the PttAMT1;2 and PttAMT1;5 genes, respectively, were significantly associated with ground diameter traits. Thus, considerable allelic diversity is present within the candidate genes studied and can be utilized to develop functional markers to select for poplars with improved growth under N stress conditions.

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Keywords

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