Characterization and fine mapping of a new dwarf mutant in Brassica napus

BackgroundPlant height is an important plant characteristic closely related to yield performance of many crops. Reasonable reduction of plant height of crops is beneficial for improving yield and enhancing lodging resistance.ResultsIn the present study, we described the Brassica napus dwarf mutant bnd2 that was isolated using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. Compared to wild type (WT), bnd2 exhibited reduced height and shorter hypocotyl and petiole leaves. By crossing the bnd2 mutant with the WT strain, we found that the ratio of the mutant to the WT in the F-2 population was close to 1:3, indicating that bnd2 is a recessive mutation of a single locus. Following bulked segregant analysis (BSA) by resequencing, BND2 was found to be located in the 13.77-18.08Mb interval of chromosome A08, with a length of 4.31Mb. After fine mapping with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and insertion/deletion (InDel) markers, the gene was narrowed to a 140-Kb interval ranging from 15.62Mb to 15.76Mb. According to reference genome annotation, there were 27 genes in the interval, of which BnaA08g20960D had an SNP type variation in the intron between the mutant and its parent, which may be the candidate gene corresponding to BND2. The hybrid line derived from a cross between the mutant bnd2 and the commercial cultivar L329 had similar plant height but higher grain yield compared to the commercial cultivar, suggesting that the allele bnd2 is beneficial for hybrid breeding of lodging resistant and high yield rapeseed.ConclusionIn this study, we identified a novel dwarf mutant of rapeseed with a new locus, which may be useful for functional analyses of genetic mechanisms of plant architecture and grain yield in rapeseed.

Automated summary

In this study, a dwarf mutant of rapeseed named bnd2 was isolated using EMS mutagenesis. The mutant exhibited reduced plant height and was found to be a recessive mutation of a single locus. Through fine mapping, the candidate gene BnaA08g20960D was identified in a 140-Kb interval, potentially useful for breeding lodging resistant and high yield rapeseed.