Fenugreek as a self-pollinated plant is ideal for genome-wide association mapping where traits can be marked by their association with natural mutations. However, fenugreek is poorly investigated at the genomic level due to the lack of information regarding its genome. To fill this gap, we genotyped a collection of 112 genotypes with 153,881 SNPs using double digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing. We used 38,142 polymorphic SNPs to prove the suitability of the population for association mapping. One significant SNP was associated with both seed length and seed width, and another SNP was associated with seed color. Due to the lack of a comprehensive genetic map, it is neither possible to align the newly developed markers to chromosomes nor to predict the underlying genes. Therefore, systematic targeting of those markers to homologous genomes of other legumes can overcome those problems. A BLAST search using the genomic fenugreek sequence flanking the identified SNPs showed high homology with several members of the Trifolieae tribe indicating the potential of translational approaches to improving our understanding of the fenugreek genome. Using such a comprehensively-genotyped fenugreek population is the first step towards identifying genes underlying complex traits and to underpin fenugreek marker-assisted breeding programs.

中文翻译：

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基于高密度 SNP 的胡芦巴种子性状关联图揭示了与三叶草的同源性

胡芦巴作为自花授粉植物是全基因组关联作图的理想选择，其中性状可以通过与自然突变的关联来标记。然而，由于缺乏关于其基因组的信息，胡芦巴在基因组水平上的研究很少。为了填补这一空白，我们使用双酶切限制位点相关 DNA 测序对 112 个基因型的集合进行了基因分型，其中包含 153,881 个 SNP。我们使用了 38,142 个多态性 SNP 来证明群体适用于关联映射。一个重要的 SNP 与种子长度和种子宽度相关，另一个 SNP 与种子颜色相关。由于缺乏全面的遗传图谱，既不可能将新开发的标记与染色体对齐，也无法预测潜在基因。所以，将这些标记系统地靶向其他豆科植物的同源基因组可以克服这些问题。使用位于已识别 SNP 侧翼的胡芦巴基因组序列进行的 BLAST 搜索显示出与 Trifolieae 部落的几个成员的高度同源性，表明转化方法具有提高我们对胡芦巴基因组理解的潜力。使用这种全面基因分型的胡芦巴种群是识别复杂性状背后的基因并支持胡芦巴标记辅助育种计划的第一步。