Genetic dissection of domestication traits in interspecific chickpea populations

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a pulse crop that provides an integral source of nutrition for human consumption. The close wild relatives Cicer reticulatum and Cicer echinospermum harbor untapped genetic diversity that can be exploited by chickpea breeders to improve domestic varieties. Knowledge of genomic loci that control important chickpea domestication traits will expedite the development of improved chickpea varieties derived from interspecific crosses. Therefore, we set out to identify genomic loci underlying key chickpea domestication traits by both association and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping using interspecific F2 populations. Diverse phenotypes were recorded for various agronomic traits. A total of 11 high-confidence markers were detected on chromosomes 1, 3, and 7 by both association and QTL mapping; these were associated with growth habit, flowering time, and seed traits. Furthermore, we identified candidate genes linked to these markers, which advanced our understanding of the genetic basis of domestication traits and validated known genes such as the FLOWERING LOCUS gene cluster that regulates flowering time. Collectively, this study has elucidated the genetic basis of chickpea domestication traits, which can facilitate the development of superior chickpea varieties. A total of 30 wild by domestic chickpea populations were generated for evaluation in the field for domestication traits and post harvest seed traits.Loci associated with growth habit, flowering time, and seed traits were identified by association and QTL mapping.Candidate genes for each of the domestication traits were identified, and their role in other species was discussed.