Mapping the genome of Miscanthus sinensis for QTL associated with biomass productivity

In light of rising energy costs, lignocellulosic ethanol has been identified as a renewable alternative to petroleum‐based transportation fuels. In an attempt to reach government mandated ethanol production levels, potential plant biofeedstock candidates have been investigated, and cold‐tolerant, perennial accessions within the C 4 grass genus Miscanthus have been identified as leading contenders in the Midwestern US. To facilitate the development of improved cultivars through marker‐assisted breeding, a quantitative trait locus ( QTL ) study was conducted on a full‐sib, F 1 mapping population segregating for flowering time, height, leaf width, and yield using a genetic map consisting of 846 segregating SNP and SSR markers. This was a 3 year study investigating the genetic architecture underlying traits important to biomass production in a population of 221 progeny from a cross between M. sinensis ‘Grosse Fountaine’ and M. sinensis ‘Undine’ established in the spring of 2010; 72 QTL s with LOD scores above the genome‐wide, permuted threshold equivalent to a P ‐value of 0.05 were identified across 13 traits. Of the 36 QTL s identified in 2011, 22 were detected again the following year. Both the use of spring emergence and vigor rating as a covariate to account for variation related to differences in establishment increased the power to detect QTL s in the 2 year establishment period. Finally, a dry period in the middle of the 2012 growing season suggested that yield declines were due to a decrease in tiller diameter.