Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) analysis of palm oil fatty acid composition in an interspecific pseudo-backcross from Elaeis oleifera (HBK) Cort,s and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

We chose an Elaeis interspecific pseudo-backcross of first generation (E. oleifera × E. guineensis) × E. guineensis to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for fatty acid composition of palm oil. A dense microsatellite linkage map of 362 loci spanned 1.485 cM, representing the 16 pairs of homologous chromosomes in the Elaeis genus from which we traced segregating alleles from both E. oleifera and E. guineensis grandparents. The relative linear orders of mapped loci suggested the probable absence of chromosome rearrangements between the E. oleifera and E. guineensis genomes. A total of 19 QTL associated to the palm oil fatty acid composition were evidenced. The QTL positions and the species origin as well as the estimated effects of the QTL marker alleles were in coherence with the knowledge of the oil biosynthesis pathway in plants and with the individual phenotypic correlations between the traits. The mapping of chosen Elaeis key genes related to oleic acid C18:1, using intra-gene SNPs, supported several QTLs underlying notably FATA and SAD enzymes. The high number of hyper-variable SSR loci of known relative linear orders and the QTL information make these resources valuable for such mapping study in other Elaeis breeding materials.