中文摘要：

关联分析是新近开始在植物数量性状研究和植物育种中应用的一种分析方法。它以连锁不平衡为基础鉴定某一群体内性状与遗传标记或候选基因间的关系，是对分子育种中QTL分析的补充和提高。本文在介绍连锁不平衡的定义和度量方法的基础上，讨论连锁不平衡程度和群体结构对关联分析的影响，综述了关联分析在植物方面的研究进展，并最后讨论了关联分析在植物数量性状和分子育种研究中可能的应用。

英文摘要：

Recently, association analysis （AA） has been widely employed to investigate quantitative traits in plant genetics and breeding. Association analysis is an approach to identify the relationship of molecular markers or candidate genes with traits in a given population based on linkage disequilibrium （LD） that complements QTLs analysis in the development of tools for molecular plant breeding. Here, we introduced the definition and measure- ments of LD and reviewed the advances of association analysis for the investigation of quantitative traits in plants. The effects of the patterns of LD and population structure to AA were discussed. Finally, we also discussed the potential application of association analysis for dissecting quantitative traits and plant molecular breeding.