Inheritance and Linkage Analysis of Frost Injury in Lentil

Radiation-frost injury is an important abiotic constraint to lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) production in West Asia, but no information has been published on the inheritance of radiation-frost injury in lentil. The objectives of the study were to determine the mode of inheritance of radiation-frost tolerance and to locate the genes for tolerance in the lentil genome by means of a population of recombinant inbrd Lines (RILs). The experiments were grown in a randomized complete block design for 2 yr in north Syria. There was a highly significant difference (P < 0.001) in plant frost injury levels among RILs. This was found consistent over two seasons and may provide a good source of genetic variation. The frost tolerance trait was inherited as a 1:1 ratio of tolerant to susceptible in RILs, suggesting monogenic inheritance. The RILs were genotyped with 254 DNA markers. A random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker, OPS-16(750), was linked to the locus for radiation-frost tolerance (Frt) trait at 9.1 centimorgans (cM). The RAPD marker co-segregated with frost tolerance (in cis) in selected contrasting RILs. This marker is highly repeatable and may be used to expedite screening of germplasm resources for frost tolerance.