A Detailed Analysis of the BR1 Locus Suggests a New Mechanism for Bolting after Winter in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

Abstract

Sugar beet (<i>Beta vulgaris</i> ssp. vulgaris) is a biennial, sucrose-storing plant, which is mainly cultivated as a spring crop and harvested in the vegetative stage before winter. For increasing beet yield, over-winter cultivation would be advantageous. However, bolting is induced after winter and drastically reduces yield. Thus, post-winter bolting control is essential for winter beet cultivation. To identify genetic factors controlling bolting after winter, a F₂ population was previously developed by crossing the sugar beet accessions BETA 1773 with reduced bolting tendency and 93161P with complete bolting after winter. For a mapping-by-sequencing analysis, pools of 26 bolting-resistant and 297 bolting F₂ plants were used. Thereby, a single continuous homozygous region of 103 kb was co-localized to the previously published <i>BR</i>₁ QTL for post-winter bolting resistance (Pfeiffer et al., 2014). The <i>BR</i>₁ locus was narrowed down to 11 candidate genes from which a homolog of the <i>Arabidopsis CLEAVAGE AND POLYADENYLATION SPECIFICITY FACTOR 73-I</i> (<i>CPSF73-I</i>) was identified as the most promising candidate. A 2 bp deletion within the BETA 1773 allele of <i>BvCPSF73-Ia</i> results in a truncated protein. However, the null allele of <i>BvCPSF73-Ia</i> might partially be compensated by a second <i>BvCPSF73-Ib</i> gene. This gene is located 954 bp upstream of <i>BvCPSF73-Ia</i> and could be responsible for the incomplete penetrance of the post-winter bolting resistance allele of BETA 1773. This result is an important milestone for breeding winter beets with complete bolting resistance after winter.