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The recombination events were concentrated in telomeric regions. Loci with major effects on photoperiod sensitivity and seed size were also verified by biparental genetic mapping. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified for several parental traits. These lines were on average 99.74% homozygous but also diverse in agronomic traits across environments. This was confirmed by single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping with the Illumina Cowpea Consortium Array. The eight parents were inter-crossed using structured matings to ensure that the population would have balanced representation from each parent, followed by single-seed descent, resulting in 305 F 8 recombinant inbred lines each carrying a mosaic of genome blocks contributed by all founders. These founders were genetically diverse and carried many abiotic and biotic stress resistance, seed quality and agronomic traits relevant to cowpea improvement in the United States and sub-Saharan Africa, where cowpea is vitally important in the human diet and local economies.
![magic lines cow magic lines cow](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/um2jUiQi9wg/maxresdefault.jpg)
We developed a MAGIC population for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) populations are an emerging type of resource for dissecting the genetic structure of traits and improving breeding populations. 10 Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, P.9 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Entrance Rd, Ibadan, Nigeria.8 Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, 01 BP 10 Koudougou 01, Burkina Faso.7 Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, BP 3320, Thiès, Sénégal.6 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, PMB 5320, Oyo Road, Ibadan, Nigeria.5 Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, BP 476 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso.4 Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.3 Discovery Sciences, Janssen R&D, 329 Oyster Point Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA.2 Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.1 Department of Nematology, University of California, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.