IntroductionLentil, Lens culinaris Medic., is an important cool season food legume in the old world. It is a self-pollinated, diploid (2n = 2x = 14) with a genome size of 4063 Mbp (Arumuganathan and Earl, 1991). The origin of cultivated lentil is the

BackgroundLentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris Medikus) is a diploid (2n = 2x = 14), self-pollinating grain legume with a haploid genome size of about 4 Gbp and is grown throughout the world with current annual production of 4.9 million tonnes.Materials and methodsA consensus map of lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris Medikus) was constructed using three different lentils recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations, including “CDC Redberry” x “ILL7502” (LR8), “ILL8006” x “CDC Milestone” (LR11) and “PI320937” x “Eston” (LR39).ResultsThe lentil consensus map was composed of 9,793 DArT markers, covered a total of 977.47 cM with an average distance of 0.10 cM between adjacent markers and constructed 7 linkage groups representing 7 chromosomes of the lentil genome. The consensus map had no gap larger than 12.67 cM and only 5 gaps were found to be between 12.67 cM and 6.0 cM (on LG3 and LG4). The localization of the SNP markers on the lentil consensus map were in general consistent with their localization on the three individual genetic linkage maps and the lentil consensus map has longer map length, higher marker density and shorter average distance between the adjacent markers compared to the component linkage maps.ConclusionThis high-density consensus map could provide insight into the lentil genome. The consensus map could also help to construct a physical map using a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome library and map based cloning studies. Sequence information of DArT may help localization of orientation scaffolds from Next Generation Sequencing data.

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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most ımportant food legume crops in the world. Chickpea is valued for its nutritive seed composition, which is high in protein content and used increasingly as a substitute for animal protein. Days to fırst flowerıng is an important component of the adaptation and productivity of chickpea in rainfed environments characterized by terminal drought and heat stress. This study aimed to identify the inheritance pattern and identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for days to first flowering and flowering color in F2:4 generation nested association mapping (NAM) populations of chickpea obtained using wide crosses between Gokce as the cultivated variety and wild accessions of C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum. A total of ten populations of 113 to 191 individuals each were grown under field conditions near Sanliurfa, Turkey. Two populations were genotyped for 46 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, enabling QTL analysis. Flowering time differed between families, with the frequency distributions indicating quantitative inheritance controlled by both genes of major and minor effects. Three significant QTLs for the flowering time were mapped in one mapping family. For flower color, chi-square tests showed that five populations accepted single-gene action, two populations accepted two-gene action, and three populations accepted neither model. Two significant QTLs at three genomic regions were identified across the two genotyped populations. Days to first flowering was positively correlated with flower color for two of the ten populations. The diversity of QTLs identified underscored the potential of crop wild relatives of chickpea as sources of novel alleles for chickpea breeding.

Objective of investigation: Chickpea is a major global food legume for which seed weight and plant growth habit are important yield and harvestability components for plant breeding. This study tested seed weight and plant growth habit inheritance and identified quantitative trait loci (QTL).Experimental material: A 10 nested association mapping (NAM) populations of chickpea were created from crosses between 'Gokce', a cultivar and wild crop relative accessions of Cicer reticulatum and Cicer echinospermum. Families were then developed to the F2:4 generation.

IntroductionLentil, which belongs to the family Leguminosae (Fabaceae), is an important food source for people around the world (Fikiru et al., 2007). Lentil represents the greatest source of protein after soybeans and hemp (Callaway, 2004). In addition to its nutritional importance, this crop plays a role in the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere and the formation of nitrogen in the soil, which replenishes nutrients and maintains soil productivity (Wong, 1980). Lentils are drought-tolerant (Karim Mojein et al., 2003) and are grown in many areas around the world. Geographically, this crop is widely cultivated in West Asia and the Indian subcontinent, North Africa, South Europe, South and North America, and Australia (Erskine, 1997). The major lentil-producing regions of the world are Asia and the West Asia/North Africa region (Erskine et al., 1998), and lentil is currently under cultivation in more than 35 countries (Yadav et al., 2007). Yadav et al. (2007) also reported that 99% of the world's lentil production is provided by 20 countries, with the most important lentilproducing countries being Australia, Canada,

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for flowering time (FT) in lentil were located using a recombinant inbreed line population derived from an intraspecific cross of Precoz × WA8649041. Experiments for FT were conducted in 2 locations (Haymana, Turkey and Pullman, WA, USA) for 5 years (from 1998 to 2002 in both Pullman and Haymana). A linkage map was constructed using 149 markers (RAPD, AFLP, ISSR, SSR, and 2 morphological markers) located on 11 linkage groups (LGs). Analysis of variance of FT was found to be significant for all locations and years. One major QTL for FT was identified on LG6 across all environments, indicating the stability of the QTL. The LOD scores for FT varied between 3.25 and 13.64 among the environments. The markers UBC318_2, SSR212_1, UBC220, M09a, and M09 on the QTL region were statistically significant in all environments. The SSR212_1 marker itself explained 57% of total genotypic variation according to the average of all environments, indicating the potential use of these markers in marker-assisted selection studies.

Background: Cicer reticulatum L. is the wild progenitor of chickpea Cicer arietinum L., the fourth most important pulse crop in the world. Iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are vital micronutrients that play crucial roles in sustaining life by acting as co-factors for various proteins. Aims and Objectives: In order to improve micronutrient-dense chickpea lines, this study aimed to investigate variability and detect DNA markers associated with Fe and Zn concentrations in the seeds of 73 cultivated (C. arietinum L.) and 107 C. reticulatum genotypes. Methods: A set of 180 accessions was genotyped using 20,868 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers obtained from genotyping by sequencing analysis. Results: The results revealed substantial variation in the seed Fe and Zn concentration of the surveyed population. Using STRUCTURE software, the population structure was divided into two groups according to the principal component analysis and neighbor-joining tree analysis. A total of 23 and 16 associated SNP markers related to Fe and Zn concentrations, respectively were identified in TASSEL software by the mixed linear model method. Significant SNP markers found in more than two environments were accepted as more reliable than those that only existed in a single environment. Conclusion: The identified markers can be used in marker-assisted selection in chickpea breeding programs for the improvement of seed Fe and Zn concentrations in the chickpea.