Exploratory QTL analyses of some pepper physiological traits in two environments

behind phenotypic differences and led to selection of genotypes having favourable traits. Continuous monitoring of environmental conditions has also become an accessible option. Rather than single trait evaluation, we would prefer smarter approaches capable of evaluating multiple, often correlated and time dependent traits simultaneously as a function of genes (QTLs) and environmental inputs, where we would The use of molecular breeding techniques has increased insight into the genetics like to include intermediate genomic information as well. In this paper, an exploratory QTL analysis over two environments was undertaken using available genetic and phenotypic data from segregating recombinant inbred lines (RIL) of pepper (Capsicum annuum). We focused on vegetative traits, e.g. stem length, speed of stem development, number of internodes etc. We seek to improve the estimation of allelic values of these traits under the two environments and determine possible QTL x E interaction. Almost identical QTLs are detected for each trait under the two environments but with varying LOD scores. No clear evidence was found for presence of QTL by environment interactions, despite differences in phenotypes and in magnitude of QTLs expression. Within the EU project SPICY (Voorrips et al., 2010 this issue), a larger number of environments will be studied and more advanced statistical analysis tools will be considered. The correlation between the traits will also be modelled. The identification of markers for the important QTL (Nicolai et al., 2010 this issue) will improve the speed and accuracy of genomic prediction of these complex phenotypes