Comprehensive genomic and phenotypic analyses reveal the genetic basis of fruit quality in litchi.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Litchi, an economically important fruit crop in Southeast Asia, is renowned for its distinctive flavor and nutrient value, but its genetic diversity and genetic basis underlying fruit quality regulation remain largely unexplored.

Results

We re-sequence 276 litchi accessions collected globally and identify 54 million high-quality biallelic SNPs. We then analyze the population structure and reveal four main subgroups within the population. By phenotypic profiling of 21 fruit-quality-related traits, followed with genome-wide association study, we identify a plethora of candidate genes and genomic loci that are responsible for regulating seed and fruit quality traits. In particular, we characterize and experimentally validate an invertase gene, LcSAI, encoding an enzy

SUBMITTER: Yan Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12291274 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature