ABSTRACT
Association mapping, also known as linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping, is rapidly becoming an important method in the dissection of complex traits of crop plants. Highly successful in determining the genetic causes of human disease, association mapping is likely to become a common approach for elucidating the genetic mechanisms of many agriculturally important
USDA-ARS, Grape Genetics Research Unit, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, USA; e-mail: chris.owens@ars.usda.gov
traits. The addition of association mapping to the suite of genetic mapping approaches, such as linkage mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL), is likely to have a dramatic effect on the ability to identify the causal genes and alleles underlying many important traits in crop plants, including grape. Several recommended recent reviews explore many of the topics relevant to conducting association mapping in plants (Flint-Garcia et al. 2003; Yu et al. 2006; Zhu et al. 2008).
