Camelina sativa is a promising oilseed and industrial crop that benefits sustainable food, feed and fuel industries. Early flowering is critical for local adaptation as well as maximizing yield in Camelina sativa. Even though the preliminary data indicated wide variation in flowering time in the spring camelina germplasm, our understanding of underlying genes and their roles in regulating flower development is still limited. The current study combined genotypic data and flowering time from the spring panel, followed by genome-wide association study (GWAS) and whole-genome prediction to identify significant trait-associated markers and evaluate the predictive capability of the entire marker set. The analysis of phenotypic data showed significant genotypic and environmental effects on flowering time. A high heritability of 0.893 in flowering time suggests effectiveness of breeding early flowering camelina varieties. The GWAS analysis identified 20 significant trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that colocalized within/or near a variety of transcription factors (e.g. SUPPRESSOR of PHYA-1/SPA1, BES1-INTERACTING MYC-LIKE 1/BIM1) or protein families containing specific functional domains (e.g. CCCH zinc finger protein family and B3-DNA binding domain containing protein family). These transcription factors were known to interact with key regulatory genes in the four major pathways (i.e. photoperiod, autonomous, vernalization and gibberellic acid pathways) to cooperatively regulate floral transition in arabidopsis. Whole-genome prediction showed a low-to-moderate predictive ability (0.559) to improve early flowering trait in camelina. This study is the first step for future in-depth exploration and genetic improvements of flower development and timing in camelina for breeding.

Camelina sativa是一种有前途的油籽和工业作物，有利于可持续的食品、饲料和燃料行业。早花对于当地适应以及使亚麻荠产量最大化至关重要. 尽管初步数据表明春茶种质中开花时间存在很大差异，但我们对潜在基因及其在调节花发育中的作用的了解仍然有限。目前的研究结合了春季面板的基因型数据和开花时间，然后是全基因组关联研究 (GWAS) 和全基因组预测，以确定重要的性状相关标记并评估整个标记集的预测能力。表型数据的分析表明，对开花时间有显着的基因型和环境影响。开花时间 0.893 的高遗传力表明培育早花亚麻荠品种的有效性。GWAS 分析确定了 20 个重要的性状相关单核苷酸多态性 (SNP)，它们共定位于多种转录因子（例如 PHYA-1/SPA1 的抑制器、BES1-INTERACTING MYC-LIKE 1/BIM1）或含有特定的功能域（例如 CCCH 锌指蛋白家族和包含 B3-DNA 结合域的蛋白家族）。已知这些转录因子与四种主要途径（即光周期、自主、春化和赤霉酸途径）中的关键调控基因相互作用，以协同调节拟南芥的花转化。全基因组预测显示出低到中等的预测能力 (0.559)，可以改善茶树的早花性状。