As the second most consumed non-alcoholic beverage, the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) has high economic value. Tea improvement efforts that largely target economic traits such as yield have traditionally relied on conventional breeding approaches. The tea plant’s perennial nature and its long generation time make conventional approaches time-consuming and labour-intensive. Biotechnology provides a complementary tool for accelerating tea improvement programmes through marker-assisted selection (MAS). Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) identified on linkage maps are an essential prerequisite to the implementation of MAS. QTL analysis was performed on yield data over 3 years (2010–2012) across two sites (Timbilil and Kangaita, in Kenya), based on two parental framework linkage maps arising from a population of 261 F₁ progeny, derived from a reciprocal cross between GW Ejulu and TRFK 303/577. The maps contain 15 linkage groups each, this corresponds to the haploid chromosome number of tea (2n=2x=30). The total length of the parental maps was 1028.1 cM for GW Ejulu and 1026.6 cM for TRFK 303/577 with an average locus spacing of 5.5 cM and 5.4 cM, respectively. A total of 13 QTLs were identified over the three measurement years. The 13 QTLs had LOD values ranging from 1.98 to 7.24 and explained 3.4% to 12% of the phenotypic variation. The two sites had seven mutually detected QTLs.

作为第二大消费量最高的无酒精饮料，茶树（山茶）具有很高的经济价值。传统上，传统上依靠常规育种方法来改善以经济特性（例如产量）为目标的茶叶改良工作。茶树的多年生特性及其较长的生成时间使常规方法既费时又费力。生物技术为通过标记辅助选择（MAS）加速茶改善计划提供了补充工具。在连锁图上鉴定的数量性状基因座（QTL）是实施MAS的必要先决条件。基于两个来自261 F人口的父母框架链接图，对两个地点（肯尼亚的Timbilil和Kangaita）的3年（2010-2012年）的产量数据进行了QTL分析。_1个后代，来自GW Ejulu和TRFK 303/577之间的对等杂交。这些图分别包含15个连锁基团，这对应于茶的单倍体染色体数（2 n = 2 x = 30）。GW Ejulu的亲本图谱的总长度为1028.1 cM，TRFK 303/577的总图谱长度为1026.6 cM，平均基因座间隔分别为5.5 cM和5.4 cM。在这三个测量年度中，总共确定了13个QTL。13个QTL的LOD值在1.98至7.24之间，解释了表型变异的3.4％至12％。这两个站点具有七个相互检测到的QTL。