Development of molecular markers associated with saline-alkali tolerance in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Development of molecular markers associated with saline-alkali tolerance in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Development of molecular markers associated with saline-alkali tolerance in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) xianfei hou, Fengrui Liu, Ouqi Li, Xiaoyu Ge, Chao He, Chengwei Hu, and 12 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8177253/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Salt-tolerant rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.) plays a pivotal role in the sustainable utilization and improvement of saline-alkaline soils. However, current breeding of highly tolerant cultivars still relies largely on conventional hybridization combined with phenotype-based selection, which is strongly influenced by environmental variation, labor-intensive, and low-throughput, thereby limiting breeding efficiency. To address these challenges, a total of 1,281 candidate genes previously reported across rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, and Arabidopsis were compiled. Subsequent candidate gene-based association analysis identified 483 significantly associated genes, 355 of which harbored favorable haplotypes. Molecular markers were efficiently developed for 275 genes, including 746 KASP and 201 InDel marker pairs. Four marker pairs were randomly selected for validation, and the results demonstrated their effectiveness in classifying germplasm based on tolerance levels. Given the relatively small effect of individual saline–alkaline tolerance loci in rapeseed, these markers enable efficient pyramiding of favorable alleles into parental lines, thereby accelerating the development of highly tolerant varieties. This study provides essential tools for early-generation evaluation and marker-assisted selection (MAS) and lays a solid foundation for the molecular design breeding of saline–alkaline-tolerant rapeseed Full Text Supplementary Files Supplementarytables.xls Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 14 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 22 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 21 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8177253","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619916943,"identity":"abaa0bd1-f950-4895-89f2-59788a2d1e72","order_by":0,"name":"xianfei 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