AUTHOR=Liu Xiaolin , Yang Wencai , Wang Jing , Yang Mengxia , Wei Kai , Liu Xiaoyan , Qiu Zhengkun , Giang Tong van , Wang Xiaoxuan , Guo Yanmei , Li Junming , Liu Lei , Shu Jinshuai , Du Yongchen , Huang Zejun 

TITLE=SlGID1a Is a Putative Candidate Gene for qtph1.1, a Major-Effect Quantitative Trait Locus Controlling Tomato Plant Height

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00881

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2020.00881

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Plant height is an important agronomic trait in crops. Several genes underlying tomato (<italic>Solanum lycopersicum</italic>) plant height mutants have been cloned. However, few quantitative trait genes for plant height have been identified in tomato. In this study, seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling plant height were identified in tomato. Of which, <italic>qtph1.1</italic> (<italic>QTL for tomato plant height 1.1</italic>), <italic>qtph3.1</italic> and <italic>qtph12.1</italic> were major QTLs and explained 15, 16, and 12% of phenotypic variation (R<sup>2</sup>), respectively. The <italic>qtph1.1</italic> was further mapped to an 18.9-kb interval on chromosome 1. Based on the annotated tomato genome (version SL2.50, annotation ITAG2.40), <italic>Solyc01g098390</italic> encoding GA receptor SlGID1a was the putative candidate gene. The <italic>SlGID1a</italic> gene underlying the <italic>qtph1.1</italic> locus contained a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that resulted in an amino acid alteration in protein sequence. The near-isogenic line containing the <italic>qtph1.1</italic> locus (NIL-<italic>qtph1.1</italic>) exhibited shorter internode length and cell length than the wild type (NIL-WT). The dwarf phenotype of NIL-<italic>qtph1.1</italic> could not be rescued by exogenous GA<sub>3</sub> treatment. Transcriptome analysis and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qPCR) showed that several genes related to biosynthesis and signaling of GA and auxin were differentially expressed in stems between NIL-<italic>qtph1.1</italic> and NIL-WT. These findings might pave the road for understanding the molecular regulation mechanism of tomato plant height.</p>