Identification of QTLs associated with grain-filling duration and heading date in wheat

Abstract

An increase in genetic diversity of bread wheat caused by spring x winter forms leads to an alteration of genetic control of maturity time. Maturity time (MAT) is one of major yield components in wheat, which has two components: the heading date (HD) and grain-filling period (GFP). Using the Illumina Infinium 25k platform we analyzed the genetic control of the HD, GFP and MAT in the F2 and F2:3 populations from a cross between late-ripening spring/winter line 124-1 and spring wheat cultivar Novosibirskaya 31, possessing the same allelic composition of the VRN1 and PPD-D1 genes. The phenotypic evaluation of the populations studied was performed during three years. A total of 17 QTLs were mapped, out of which 4 QTLs for MAT or its components were confirmed over two years. Two common MAT and HD QTLs were identified on the 4A chromosome, and two loci controlling GFP and MAT were found on 6B chromosome. An environmentally stable HD QTL QHd.icg-7B.1 was associated with the FT-B1 gene having a non-synonymous polymorphism [G/C] in its coding region. A novel НD QTL was identified on 7D chromosome. QTL dissection allowed to propose putative genes for QMat.icg4-A and QMat.icg6-B, namely the SPL family gene (TraesCS4A02G359500) and the TCP transcription factor (TraesCS6B02G462100), respectively. The results of this study provide information for further investigation into wheat development.