ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine a statistical framework for making inferences about the effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in experimental populations. The statistical problem of QTL mapping can be viewed as having three components. First is the detection of genetic factors that have effects on a trait and are segregating in population. Second is the location of QTL relative to marker loci. Third is the estimation of the QTL effects and their interactions. The location of the QTL will be inferred by identifying the marker that is most strongly associated with the trait. The following genetic model is proposed as a working hypothesis. There are two major QTL in this system plus other modifiers that may be genetic or environmental. The first QTL affects the level of acylsugar production. The high production allele is dominant to low production allele. The second QTL affects the proportion of glucose among the high level producers.
