Genetic analysis of bolting after winter in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.).

KEY MESSAGE: This study reveals for the first time a major QTL for post-winter bolting resistance in sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L.). The knowledge of this QTL is a major contribution towards the development of a winter sugar beet with controlled bolting behavior. In cool temperate climates, sugar beets are currently grown as a spring crop. They are sown in spring and harvested in autumn. Growing sugar beet as a winter crop with an extended vegetation period fails due to bolting after winter. Bolting after winter might be controlled by accumulating genes for post-winter bolting resistance. Previously, we had observed in field experiments a low post-winter bolting rate of 0.5 for sugar beet accession BETA 1773. This accession was crossed with a biennial sugar beet with regular bolting behavior to develop a F3 mapping population. The population was grown in the greenhouse, exposed to artificial cold treatment for 16 weeks and transplanted to the field. Bolting was recorded twice a week from May until October. Post-winter bolting behavior was assessed by two different factors, bolting delay (determined as days to bolt after cold treatment) and post-winter bolting resistance (bolting rate after winter). For days to bolt, means of F3 families ranged from 25 to 164 days while for bolting rate F3 families ranged from 0 to 1. For each factor one QTL explaining about 65% of the phenotypic variation was mapped to the same region on linkage group 9 with a partially recessive allele increasing bolting delay and post-winter bolting resistance. The results are discussed in relation to the potential use of marker-assisted breeding of winter sugar beets with controlled bolting.