Rapid and inexpensive whole-genome genotyping-by-sequencing for crossover localization and fine-scale genetic mapping.

The reshuffling of existing genetic variation during meiosis is important both during evolution and in breeding. The reassortment of genetic variants relies on the formation of crossovers (COs) between homologous chromosomes. The pattern of genome-wide CO distributions can be rapidly and precisely established by the short-read sequencing of individuals from F2 populations, which in turn are useful for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. Although sequencing costs have decreased precipitously in recent years, the costs of library preparation for hundreds of individuals have remained high. To enable rapid and inexpensive CO detection and QTL mapping using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing of large mapping populations, we have developed a new method for library preparation along with Trained Individual GenomE Reconstruction, a probabilistic method for genotype and CO predictions for recombinant individuals. In an example case with hundreds of F2 individuals from two Arabidopsis thali...