Mining Beneficial Genes for Aluminum Tolerance Within a Core Collection of Rice Landraces Through Genome-Wide Association Mapping With High Density SNPs From Specific-Locus Amplified Fragment Sequencing

The next-generation sequencing technology coupled with the growing number of genome sequences opens the opportunity to redesign genotyping strategies for more effective genetic mapping and genome analysis. We have developed a high-throughput method for genotyping recombinant populations utilizing whole-genome resequencing data generated by the Illumina Genome Analyzer. A sliding window approach is designed to collectively examine genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms for genotype calling and recombination breakpoint determination. Using this method, we constructed a genetic map for 150 rice recombinant inbred lines with an expected genotype calling accuracy of 99.94% and a resolution of recombination breakpoints within an average of 40 kb. In comparison to the genetic map constructed with 287 PCR-based markers for the rice population, the sequencing-based method was approximately 20x faster in data collection and 35x more precise in recombination breakpoint determination. Using the sequencing-based genetic map, we located a quantitative trait locus of large effect on plant height in a 100-kb region containing the rice "green revolution" gene. Through computer simulation, we demonstrate that the method is robust for different types of mapping populations derived from organisms with variable quality of genome sequences and is feasible for organisms with large genome sizes and low polymorphisms. With continuous advances in sequencing technologies, this genome-based method may replace the conventional marker-based genotyping approach to provide a powerful tool for large-scale gene discovery and for addressing a wide range of biological questions.

Large-scale genotyping plays an important role in genetic association studies. It has provided new opportunities for gene discovery, especially when combined with high-throughput sequencing technologies. Here, we report an efficient solution for large-scale genotyping. We call it specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). SLAF-seq technology has several distinguishing characteristics: i) deep sequencing to ensure genotyping accuracy; ii) reduced representation strategy to reduce sequencing costs; iii) pre-designed reduced representation scheme to optimize marker efficiency; and iv) double barcode system for large populations. In this study, we tested the efficiency of SLAF-seq on rice and soybean data. Both sets of results showed strong consistency between predicted and practical SLAFs and considerable genotyping accuracy. We also report the highest density genetic map yet created for any organism without a reference genome sequence, common carp in this case, using SLAF-seq data. We detected 50,530 high-quality SLAFs with 13,291 SNPs genotyped in 211 individual carp. The genetic map contained 5,885 markers with 0.68 cM intervals on average. A comparative genomics study between common carp genetic map and zebrafish genome sequence map showed high-quality SLAF-seq genotyping results. SLAF-seq provides a high-resolution strategy for large-scale genotyping and can be generally applicable to various species and populations.