Heritability and gene effects for tiller number and leaf number in non-heading Chinese cabbage using joint segregation analysis

Non-heading Chinese cabbage is one of the most popular leafy vegetables. Three cultivars, 'Maertou', 'Rugaomaocai' and 'Suzhouqing', were crossed to study gene effects and heritability involved in tiller and leaf development. The joint segregation analysis in six generation populations, P-1, P-2, F-1, F-2, B-1 and B-2, indicating the influence of major genes mixed with polygenes. The results revealed the traits of tiller number and leaf number in non-heading Chinese cabbage were controlled by two major genes and polygenes with dominant, additive and epistasis effects, respectively. The heritability of the two major genes in F-2 was over 60%, indicating that the genetic factor was the main influence to the leaf number and tiller number traits. Data from the present study revealed that it had a significant positive correlation between tiller number and leaf number in non-heading Chinese cabbage. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.