Association panels represent a useful tool for quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and pre-breeding. In this study, we report on the development of a European and Mediterranean chickpea association panel as a useful tool for gene discovery and breeding. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important food legumes worldwide and a key crop in the Mediterranean environments. The selection of genotypes followed criteria aimed to build a set of materials representative of the genetic diversity of chickpea germplasm focusing on the European and Mediterranean environments, which have largely been ignored to date. This tool can help breeders to develop novel varieties adapted to European and Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. Initially, 1931 chickpea accessions were phenotypically evaluated in a field trial in central Italy. From these, an association panel composed by 480 genotypes derived from single-seed descent was identified and phenotypically evaluated. Current and future phenotypic data combined with the genotypic characterization of the association panel will allow to dissect the genetic architecture of important adaptive and quality traits and accelerate breeding. This information can be used to predict phenotypes of unexploited chickpea genetic resources available in genebanks for breeding.

中文翻译：

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欧洲和地中海鹰嘴豆协会专家组（EMCAP）的发展

关联面板代表用于定量性状基因座（QTL）定位和预育的有用工具。在这项研究中，我们报告了欧洲和地中海鹰嘴豆协会小组的发展，该小组是基因发现和育种的有用工具。鹰嘴豆（Cicer arietinumL.）是全世界最重要的豆类食品之一，也是地中海地区的重要农作物。基因型的选择遵循旨在建立一套代表鹰嘴豆种质遗传多样性的材料的标准，这些材料着重于欧洲和地中海环境，迄今为止已被人们广泛忽略。该工具可以帮助育种者开发适应欧洲和地中海农业生态系统的新品种。最初，1931年在意大利中部的田间试验中对鹰嘴豆种质进行了表型评估。从这些中，鉴定和表型评估了由来自单种子后代的480个基因型组成的关联面板。当前和未来的表型数据与关联面板的基因型特征相结合，将有助于剖析重要的适应性和品质性状的遗传结构，并加速育种。该信息可用于预测基因库中可供繁殖的未利用鹰嘴豆遗传资源的表型。