Identification of a pubescence locus in Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa L.)

Abstract

The pubescence is an important trait for Brassica rapa vegetables concerning insect resistance but causes a bad mouthfeel when eaten. Pubescence is observed in some Chinese flowering cabbage (B. rapa) cultivars. The cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers linked to pubescence-related genes BrTTG1 and BrGL1 were investigated in a segregating population. The correlation between the presence/absence of pubescence and DNA marker genotypes tested using the Mann-Whitney U test, showing that the pubescence trait was significantly correlated with the CAPS marker linked to BrGL1. Sequence comparison of BrGL1 showed several nucleotide polymorphisms between parental cultivars, of which 2-bp deletion caused a frame-shift mutation in the BrGL1 of hairless cultivar ‘Hanakazari’. A CAPS marker developed from BrGL1 sequences co-segregated with the pubescence trait in this population. Therefore, it suggested that the BrGL1 is a likely candidate gene controlling the pubescence trait in this Chinese flowering cabbage line.