AUTHOR=Herniter Ira A. , Lo Ryan , Muñoz-Amatriaín María , Lo Sassoum , Guo Yi-Ning , Huynh Bao-Lam , Lucas Mitchell , Jia Zhenyu , Roberts Philip A. , Lonardi Stefano , Close Timothy J. 

TITLE=Seed Coat Pattern QTL and Development in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.01346

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.01346

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The appearance of the seed is an important aspect of consumer preference for cowpea (<italic>Vigna unguiculata</italic> [L.] Walp.). Seed coat pattern in cowpea has been a subject of study for over a century. This study makes use of newly available resources, including mapping populations, a reference genome and additional genome assemblies, and a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping platform, to map various seed coat pattern traits to three loci, concurrent with the <italic>Color Factor</italic> (<italic>C</italic>), <italic>Watson</italic> (<italic>W</italic>), and <italic>Holstein</italic> (<italic>H</italic>) factors identified previously. Several gene models encoding proteins involved in regulating the later stages of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway have been identified as candidate genes, including a basic helix–loop–helix gene (<italic>Vigun07g110700</italic>) for the <italic>C</italic> locus, a WD-repeat gene (<italic>Vigun09g139900</italic>) for the <italic>W</italic> locus and an E3 ubiquitin ligase gene (<italic>Vigun10g163900</italic>) for the <italic>H</italic> locus. A model of seed coat development, consisting of six distinct stages, is described to explain some of the observed pattern phenotypes.</p>