D3.3 – Catalogue of universal QTLs (QTLome) for fiber quality

D3.3 is the outcome of Sub-task 3.2.1 of the MAGIC proposal, which entails the “identification of universal markers for fibre quality breeding using forward genetics”. This task was achieved through the creation of a catalogue of conserved genomic loci that control fiber (cell wall) quality across model (biomass) crops and orphan species suited for cultivation on marginal lands. The catalogue was constructed by projecting known loci that control fibre/biomass quality in model plant species to other (orphan) crops through the use of genome synteny (i.e. conserved gene presence and order across multiple genomes; see “Strategy” section). Because of their genomic conservation among multiple crops, the loci identified represent both universal genomic regions controlling fiber/biomass quality across plant species, as well as universal markers, whose allelic variation in novel species adapted for marginal lands can be assessed quickly through targeted sequencing technologies at the moment of performing breeding research. The latter aspect also ensures that the universal QTLs identified in Subtask 3.2.1 can significantly speed up the improvement of novel promising crops for marginal lands, by skipping (part of) the cost- and time-consuming pre-breeding research to characterize the genetic architecture of traits of interest. The catalogue of universal QTLs is publicly stored at a safe data repository of the Dutch university system, and can be accessed via this link: https://figshare.com/s/d418ac8dc0681bff4f09.