Deciphering the Genetics of Major End-Use Quality Traits in Wheat

Abstract

Improving the end-use quality traits is one of the primary objectives in wheat breeding programs. In the current study, a population of 127 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between Glenn (PI-639273) and Traverse (PI-642780) was developed and used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 16 end-use quality traits in wheat. The phenotyping of these 16 traits was performed in nine environments in North Dakota, USA. The genotyping for the RIL population was conducted using the wheat Illumina iSelect 90K SNP assay. A high-density genetic linkage map consisting of 7,963 SNP markers identified a total of 76 additive QTL (A-QTL) and 73 digenic epistatic QTL (DE-QTL) associated with these traits. Overall, 12 stable major A-QTL and three stable DE-QTL were identified for these traits, suggesting that both A-QTL and DE-QTL played an important role in controlling end-use quality traits in wheat. The most significant A-QTL ( AQ.MMLPT.ndsu.1B ) was detected on chromosome 1B for mixograph middle line peak time. The AQ.MMLPT.ndsu.1B A-QTL was located very close to the position of the Glu-B1 gene encoding for a subunit of high molecular weight glutenin and explained up to 24.43% of phenotypic variation for mixograph MID line peak time. A total of 23 co-localized QTL loci were detected, suggesting the possibility of the simultaneous improvement of the end-use quality traits through selection procedures in wheat breeding programs. Overall, the information provided in this study could be used in marker-assisted selection to increase selection efficiency and to improve the end-use quality in wheat.

Genetic analysis of end‐use quality traits in wheat

“…J. Li et al (2012) and Naraghi et al (2019) reported QTL for WA and BWA, respectively, on 6D. Based on their flanking markers, all these previously reported QTL either locate distantly from the QTL identified in the current study or do not have determined map positions.…”

“…Quantitative trait loci for BMT were found on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 1D, 2A, 3A, 3B, 4B, 5D, 6D, 7A, 7B, and 7D (Maphosa et al, 2013;Naraghi et al, 2019;Simons et al, 2012;. Most recently, Naraghi et al (2019) found QTL for BWA on 1B, 4A, 4B, 4D, and 6D. Quantitative trait loci for FAC was detected on 1A, 1B, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 5D, and 7B (El-Feki et al, 2013;, while QTL for CS were reported on 5A and 6B (Groos et al, 2007).…”

“…Quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been found on all the 21 chromosomes for GPC and FY (Bordes et al, 2011;Fox et al, 2013;Goel et al, 2019;Krystkowiak et al, 2017;Ma, Zhang, Yan, & Liu, 2012;Maphosa et al, 2013). Quantitative trait loci have also been detected on most chromosomes for flour protein content (FPC), MT, and WA in mixograph test, LV (Groos, Bervas, Chanliaud, & Charmet, 2007;Naraghi et al, 2019;Nelson et al, 2006), and other grain quality traits including TW, kernel weight (KW), and kernel hardness (KH) (Boehm et al, 2017;Bordes et al, 2011;…”

Genetic Architecture of End-use Quality Traits in Soft White Winter Wheat

“…These GWAS MTAs from previous studies were associated with thousand kernel weight, test weight, grain ll duration, grain protein content, SDS sedimentation, and grain minerals (Cu and Zn) (Supplementary Table S5). Furthermore, comparative mapping (based on physical positions of molecular markers) between all the 178 identi ed MTAs from this study and end-use quality QTL/genes from previous genetic studies [2,4,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][19][20][21][22] showed that 40 MTAs were positioned within genomic regions of previously discovered end-use quality genes/QTL (Supplementary Table S6).…”

“…Since most end-use quality traits are predominantly controlled by genetic factors [3,4,5], a better understanding of the underlying genetic architecture of the various traits can support strategies for both phenotypic and genotypic selection, including an assessment of the potential effectiveness of marker-assisted selection. Analysis of marker trait associations have identi ed numerous quantitative trait loci (QTL) for different end-use quality traits distributed across all 21 wheat chromosomes [2,4,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, most of these studies were performed in hard wheat (bread wheat) with limited investigations [2,4,17,22,23] being performed in soft wheat.…”