Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is an important fruit crop and harbors many highly diverse traits of potential economic importance. Fruit size, stone size, and fruit cracking have an important influence on the commercial value of jujube. This study is the first to conduct a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) on 180 accessions of jujube and focuses on locating single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with nine important fruit quality traits. Genotyping was performed using genotyping‐by‐sequencing and 4651 high‐quality SNPs were identified. A genetic diversity analysis revealed the presence of three distinct groups, and rapid linkage disequilibrium decay was observed in this jujube population. Using a mixed linear model, a total of 45 significant SNP–trait associations were detected, among which 33 SNPs had associations with fruit size‐related traits, nine were associated with stone size‐related traits, and three with fruit cracking‐related traits. In total, 21 candidate genes involved in cell expansion, abiotic stress responses, hormone signaling, and growth development were identified from the genome sequences of jujube. These results are useful as basic data for GWAS of other jujube traits, and these significant SNP loci and candidate genes should aid marker‐assisted breeding and genomic selection of improved jujube cultivars.

中文翻译：

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枣种质资源中果实品质性状的全基因组关联研究

枣（Zipiphus jujuba米尔（Mill。）是一种重要的水果作物，具有许多具有潜在经济重要性的高度多样化的特征。果实大小，结石大小和破裂的果实对枣的商业价值具有重要影响。这项研究是首次对180种枣进行了全基因组关联研究（GWAS），并着重于定位与9个重要果实品质性状相关的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）。使用基因分型测序进行基因分型，鉴定出4651个高质量SNP。遗传多样性分析显示存在三个不同的群体，并且在该枣种群中观察到快速连锁不平衡衰减。使用混合线性模型，共检测到45个重要的SNP-性状关联，其中33个SNP与果实大小相关的性状相关，9个与结石大小相关的特征相关，另外3个与裂果相关的特征相关。总共，从枣的基因组序列中鉴定出21个候选基因参与细胞扩增，非生物应激反应，激素信号传导和生长发育。这些结果可作为其他枣性状的GWAS的基础数据，这些重要的SNP位点和候选基因应有助于改良枣品种的标记辅助育种和基因组选择。