Quantitative trait loci for quality and agronomic traits in two advanced backcross populations in oat (Avena sativa L.)

Using the advanced backcross quantitative trait loci (AB-QTL) strategy, we successfully transferred and mapped valuable allelic variants from the high β-glucan (BG) accession IAH611 (PI 502955), into the genome of cultivar ‘Iltis’. By backcrossing one BC1F1 plant to ‘Iltis’, we developed two BC2F2-6 populations A and B, comprising 98 and 72 F2-individuals, respectively. Genotyping of BC2F2 individuals with predominantly AFLP markers resulted in 12 linkage groups with a map size of 455.4 cM for Population A and 11 linkage groups with a map size of 313.5 cM for Population B. Both populations were grown at three sites in Germany over a three-year period. Individuals were then phenotyped for 13 traits including grain yield (YD) and β-glucan content (BG). QTL analysis via stepwise regression detected a total of 33 QTLs, most of which were clustered in three linkage groups. Two dense linkage groups A1 and B13 were found to be putatively homologous to groups KO_6 and KO_11 of the ‘Kanota’/‘Ogle’ map, respectively.