Conclusion
We aimed to dissect the genetic architecture of tomato response to
different environments involving control and stress growing conditions.
The MAGIC population demonstrated a large genetic variability in
response to abiotic stresses which was reflected by the identification
of 63 plasticity QTLs. This was achieved through the use of different
plasticity parameter highlighting the importance of plasticity
quantification for deciphering its genetic basis. The plasticity QTLs
were in majority (65% of the plasticity QTLs) located in distinct
regions than the QTLs detected for the mean phenotypes, suggesting a
specific genetic control of mean trait variation and plasticity at some
extent. Using plasticity as a trait per se in mapping analysis
turned out to be a good method for identifying genetic regions
underlying GxE. Almost all the QEI were also identified for at least one
of the plasticity parameters. Overall, this study presents the MAGIC
population as a powerful resource for tomato breeding under abiotic
stress conditions, as well as for understanding the genetic mechanisms
regulating tomato response to environmental variation.