Abstract
Each seed phenotypic trait may be influenced by its metabolite
composition which varies during seed development and -maturation.
Therefore, the metabolic components of dry seeds may represent the
maternal environment under which seeds developed and matured. The
natural variation of seed metabolite composition has been previously
studied and several QTLs were detected regulating this variation. Here a
generalized genetical genomics (GGG) approach was used for the metabolic
analysis of a recombinant inbred (RIL) population obtained from a cross
between two tomato species: Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum
pimpinellifolium. The RILs and parental lines were grown in two maternal
environments: high phosphate and low nitrate nutrition. A correlation
analysis of metabolite composition and seed phenotypic traits indicated
several relations between metabolite contents and seed quality traits
such as seed size, seed weight and seed germination percentage. Seed
size and -weight exhibited a positive correlation with several amino
acids and some intermediates of the TCA cycle, such as succinate,
citrate and malate. By performing metabolic correlation analysis and
also generating metabolite networks and combining these with QTL
analysis, several relevant mQTLs were identified. We showed that dry
seed metabolites and QTLs regulating them are modulated by genetic
factors, maternal environment and their interaction.