Heterosis, transmission genetics, and selection for increased growth rate in a N. tabacum × synthetic tobacco cross

Cultivated tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L.) is a classic amphidiploid, and hybrids between this cultivated species and closely related diploid Nicotiana relatives often exhibit heterotic effects for growth rate and yield. Crosses between N. tabacum and synthetic tobaccos, 4 x ( Nicotiana sylvestris × Nicotiana otophora ) or 4 x ( N. sylvestris × Nicotiana tomentosiformis ), may provide superior routes for genome-wide introgression from diploid relatives and allow increased potential to capitalize on heterotic effects in tobacco. Significant levels of mid-parent heterosis were observed for yield and growth rate in F 1 hybrids between synthetic tobaccos and a standard tobacco cultivar. Microsatellite marker genotyping of an F 2 population derived from a K326 × [4 x ( N. sylvestris × N. otophora )] cross was carried out to preliminarily investigate the relative importance of different types of gene action on observed heterosis in the original interspecific cross. Results suggested a role for both partial dominance and overdominance. Marker genotyping also indicated an overall reduced level of recombination in the N. tabacum × synthetic tobacco cross relative to a N. tabacum × N. tabacum cross but no evidence of genomic regions with severely restricted levels of recombination. Results suggest that populations derived from N. tabacum × synthetic tobacco crosses may be more efficient for introgressing germplasm from diploid relatives, as compared to populations derived from crosses between N. tabacum and diploid forms where preferential pairing between N. tabacum homologues can reduce the potential for introgression of alien chromatin. Such materials may be useful as sources of favorable alleles influencing quantitative characters in tobacco.