BackgroundThe genus Elaeis has two species of economic importance for the oil palm agroindustry: Elaeis oleifera (O), native to the Americas, and Elaeis guineensis (G), native to Africa. This work provides to our knowledge, the first association mapping study in an interspecific OxG oil palm population, which shows tolerance to pests and diseases, high oil quality, and acceptable fruit bunch production.ResultsUsing genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), we identified a total of 3776 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were used to perform a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 378 OxG hybrid population for 10 agronomic traits. Twelve genomic regions (SNPs) were located near candidate genes implicated in multiple functional categories, such as tissue growth, cellular trafficking, and physiological processes.ConclusionsWe provide new insights on genomic regions that mapped on candidate genes involved in plant architecture and yield. These potential candidate genes need to be confirmed for future targeted functional analyses. Associated markers to the traits of interest may be valuable resources for the development of marker-assisted selection in oil palm breeding.

<p>Se realizó transferencia de genes desde la especie Nolí (<em>Elaeis oleifera</em>) a la especie Palma de aceite (<em>Elaeis guineensis</em>) mediante retrocruzamientos con el propósito de obtener un cultivar que tuviera alta producción de frutos y aceite por unidad de área, baja tasa de crecimiento, tolerancia a enfermedades, y aceite con alto contenido de ácidos grasos insaturados y carotenos. La primera generación de retrocruzamiento RC1 se obtuvo mediante polinización controlada entre palmas del híbrido interespecífico F1 (<em>Elaeis oleifera </em>x <em>Elaeis guineensis</em>) usadas como progenitor femenino, con palmas de la especie <em>Elaeis guineensis </em>como progenitor masculino. En 1995 se establecieron en campo las descendencias de cinco cruces RC1, planteando como hipótesis de segregación que el 50% de los descendientes corresponderían al genotipo de palma de aceite y el 50% restante al genotipo del híbrido RC1 con carga genética africana (75% <em>E. guineensis </em>y 25% <em>E. oleifera</em>). Los datos de campo se analizaron con base en un diseño completamente al azar con arreglo jerárquico y desigual número de repeticiones por tratamiento; para probar la hipótesis se aplicó la prueba de Chi-cuadrado (χ2). En el cuarto año de producción los híbridos RC1 promisorios alcanzaron 35,0 t·ha^-1 de fruto, con 19,6% de aceite y una producción anual estimada de aceite de 6,3 t·ha^-1. Estos híbridos crecieron en promedio 25,8 cm por año, característica que aumenta a más de 40 años la expectativa de vida útil de la plantación. Hasta la fecha presentan tolerancia a cuatro enfermedades de carácter letal que afectan la Palma de aceite en Colombia, puesto que durante siete años de evaluación no se han presentado síntomas. El aceite de estos híbridos contiene mayor concentración de ácidos grasos insaturados y carotenos que el de la Palma de aceite.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Agronomic behavior of the BC1 hybrid cultivar of oil palm (<em>Elaeis oleifera </em>x <em>Elaeis guineensis</em>) x <em>Elaeis guineensis</em></strong></p><p>A transfer of genes from the species Nolí (<em>Elaeis oleifera</em>) to the oil palm species (<em>Elaeis guineensis</em>) was made using backcrosses, with the objective of obtaining a cultivar with high fruit and oil production per unit of area, slow rate of growth, disease tolerance, and oil with high content of unsaturated fatty acids and carotenes. The first backcross generation, BC1, was obtained using controlled pollination between palms of the interspecific F1 hybrid (<em>Elaeis oleifera </em>x <em>Elaeis guineensis</em>) used as the female parent with palms of the species <em>Elaeis guineensis </em>as the male progenitor. In 1995 the progeny of five BC1s were established in the field, proposing the segregation hypothesis that 50% of the progeny would correspond to the genotype of oil palm and the remaining 50% to the genotype of the BC1 hybrid with a load of African genes (75% <em>E. guineensis </em>and 25% <em>E. oleifera</em>). The field data were analyzed based on a completely random design with hierarchical array and uneven number of repetitions per treatment; Chi² was used to test the hypothesis. In the fourth year of production the promising BC1s reached 35 t·ha^-1 of fruit, with 19.6% of oil and an estimated oil production of 6.3 t·ha^-1 per year. These hybrids grew an average of 25.8 cm per year, a characteristic that increases the useful life expectancy of a plantation to more than 40 years. To date, these hybrids show tolerance to four deadly diseases that affect the oil palm in Colombia, since no symptoms have been observed during the eight years of evaluation. The oil from these hybrids contains greater concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids than that of oil palm.</p>

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Background The genus Elaeis has two species of economic importance for the oil palm agroindustry: Elaeis oleifera (O), native to the Americas, and Elaeis guineensis (G), native to Africa. The breeding program in Colombia relies on interspecific OxG crossing populations with tolerance to pests and diseases, high oil quality, and acceptable fruit bunch production. The identification of loci associated to morphological and yield-related traits and the dissection of their genetic architecture will provide essential insights for oil palm breeding strategies. Results The genotypes of 471 oil palms, including 62 E. oleifera (O), 31 E. guineensis (G) and 378 OxG samples were analyzed in this study. A total of 3,776 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were detected across the 16 oil palm chromosomes using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique. The genetic variation and population structure analyses grouped the samples into two clades according to the parental relatedness. A genome wide association analysis (GWAS) was conducting using the OxG hybrid population, resulting in 12 SNPs significantly associated with ten different morphological and yield-related traits. Conclusions The work presented herein provides to our knowledge the first association mapping study in an interspecific OxG hybrid population of oil palm. We provide new insights on candidate genes involved in tissue development and plant architecture associated to traits such as: rachis length, trunk diameter, bunch number, and bunch weight. The genes identified in our analysis are putative candidates for future targeted functional analysis. They are valuable resources for the development of marker-assisted selection in oil palm breeding. Keywords: Association mapping, Elaeis guineensis, Elaeis oleifera, genotyping-by-sequencing, plant architecture, yield.

Background The genus Elaeis has two species of economic importance for the oil palm agroindustry: Elaeis oleifera (O), native to the Americas, and Elaeis guineensis (G), native to Africa. This work provides to our knowledge, the first association mapping study in an interspecific OxG oil palm population, which shows tolerance to pests and diseases, high oil quality, and acceptable fruit bunch production. Results Using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), we identified a total of 3,776 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were used to perform a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 378 OxG hybrid population for 10 agronomic traits. Twelve genomic regions (SNPs) were located near candidate genes implicated in multiple functional categories, such as tissue growth, cellular trafficking, and physiological processes. Conclusions We provide new insights on genomic regions that mapped on candidate genes involved in plant architecture and yield. These potential candidate genes need to be confirmed for future targeted functional analyses. Associated markers to the traits of interest may be valuable resources for the development of marker-assisted selection in oil palm breeding. Keywords: Association mapping, Elaeis guineensis , Elaeis oleifera , genotyping-by-sequencing, plant architecture, yield.

Background The genus Elaeis has two species of economic importance for the oil palm agroindustry: Elaeis oleifera (O), native to the Americas, and Elaeis guineensis (G), native to Africa. This work provides to our knowledge, the first association mapping study in an interspecific OxG oil palm population, which shows tolerance to pests and diseases, high oil quality, and acceptable fruit bunch production. Results Using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), we identified a total of 3,776 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were used to perform a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 378 OxG hybrid population for 10 agronomic traits. Twelve genomic regions (SNPs) were located near candidate genes implicated in multiple functional categories, such as tissue growth, cellular trafficking, and physiological processes. Conclusions We provide new insights on genomic regions that mapped on candidate genes involved in plant architecture and yield. These potential candidate genes need to be confirmed for future targeted functional analyses. Associated markers to the traits of interest may be valuable resources for the development of marker-assisted selection in oil palm breeding. Keywords: Association mapping, Elaeis guineensis , Elaeis oleifera , genotyping-by-sequencing, plant architecture, yield.

Background The genus Elaeis has two species of economic importance for the oil palm agroindustry: Elaeis oleifera (O), native to the Americas, and Elaeis guineensis (G), native to Africa. The work presented herein provides, to our knowledge, the first association mapping study in an interspecific OxG hybrid population of oil palm which presents tolerance to pests and diseases, high oil quality, and acceptable fruit bunch production. Results Using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), we identified a total of 3,776 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were used to perform a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 378 OxG hybrids for 10 agronomic traits. Twelve genomic regions were located near candidate genes implicated in multiple functional categories, such as tissue growth, cellular trafficking, and physiological processes. Conclusions We provide new insights on candidate genes that mapped on genomic regions involved in plant architecture and yield; however, these potential candidate genes need to be confirmed for future targeted functional analysis. The associated markers may be valuable resources for the development of marker-assisted selection in oil palm breeding. Keywords: Association mapping, Elaeis guineensis, Elaeis oleifera, genotyping-by-sequencing, plant architecture, yield.