  Starting from a realistic constituent quark model for the nucleon-nucleon
interaction, we derive the equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter within the
Bethe-Brueckner-Goldstone approach up to three-hole-line level, without need to
introduce three-nucleon forces. To estimate the uncertainty of the calculations
both the gap and the continuous choices for the single-particle potential are
considered and compared. The resultant EOS is compatible with the
phenomenological analysis on the saturation point, the incompressibility, the
symmetry energy at low density and its slope at saturation, together with the
high-density pressure extracted from flow data on heavy ion collisions.
Although the symmetry energy is appreciably larger in the gap choice in the
high-density region, the maximum neutron star masses derived from the
continuous-choice EOS and the gap-choice EOS are similar and close to two solar
masses, which is again compatible with recent observational data. Comparison
with other microscopic EOS is presented and discussed.
