Mapping of or, a gene conferring orange color on the inner leaf of the Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)

The orange inner leaf of the Chinese cabbage is controlled by a single recessive gene (or), which causes abnormal accumulation of carotene. In the present study, an F2 population consisting of 600 individuals was used for mapping or and developing new markers closely linked to this gene. Bulked segregant analysis was performed by screening 435 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers well-distributed on 10 linkage groups and 16 SSR primers derived from nine bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones. On the basis of linkage analysis, the or gene was mapped in a region covering a total interval of 4.6 centimorgans (cM) between two SSR markers derived from BAC clones AC172873 and AC189246 at the end of linkage group 9, which matches with chromosome 1 of A genome in Chinese cabbage. A genetic map of the or locus was constructed by using five SSR markers and two morphological markers. Three SSR markers were tightly linked to or and two of them, sau (C) 586 and syau19, were located on the same side at distances of 1.6 and 1.3 cM, respectively. The other marker, syau15, was located on the other side at a distance of 3.3 cM. The two morphological markers, orange flower and orange cotyledon (before cotyledon turns green during the germination period), were obtained by visual determination and screening of the differences in the morphological traits between parents and the two segregated F2 populations; the two markers were designated as or-f (orange flower) and or-c (orange cotyledon). It was suggested that these two markers co-segregate with orange inner leaf trait or that the three characters, namely orange inner leaf, orange flower, and orange cotyledon, are determined by the same gene. These markers could be very helpful for marker-assisted selection in Chinese cabbage hybrid breeding programs.