Introgression of a gene for high grain protein content (Gpc-B1) into two leading cultivars of wheat in Eastern Gangetic Plains of India through marker assisted backcross breeding

Abstract

A wheat genotype named 'PBW343+Gpc-B1+LR24' containing Gpc-B1 gene linked with the DNA-based marker Xucw108, developed at Choudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU), Meerut, through markerassisted selection, was used as the donor parent to transfer the gene (Gpc-B1) for high grain protein content (GPC) into two popular cultivars (HUW234 and HUW468) of Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of India. In both the cultivars, Gpc-B1 gene was introgressed through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) which involved the following three steps: (i) Foreground selection; (ii) Screening for the carrier chromosome, and (iii) Recovery of recipient parent genome (RPG). Data on GPC (percent grain weight) was recorded for all selected individual plants from BC 2 F 2:3 generation. The dominant marker Xucw108 was used for foreground selection, and heterozygous plants were identified through progeny testing. For RPG recovery, both genotypic and phenotypic selections were used. Introgression of high GPC gene into recipient background without yield loss was completed in 5 years, starting from F 1 (2009-10) and completing it in BC 2 F 5 (2013-2014). Ten selected single plants from BC 2 F 3:4 had comparable yield with 26% higher GPC than the recurrent parent HUW 234. For the other parent HUW 468, eight selected plants had comparable yield with 34% higher GPC. Multi-row progenies (BC 2 F 4 and BC 2 F 5 ) of each selected plant were evaluated for yield traits with donor and recipient parents during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. Two lines with significantly higher GPC were identified in each of the crosses with no yield penalty. The study reinforced the belief that marker assisted selection (MAS) in combination with phenotypic selection could be a useful strategy for the development of wheat genotypes with high GPC without sacrificing grain yield.Key words: Triticum aestivum, grain protein content (GPC), marker assisted selection (MAS), carrier chromosome, recipient parent genome. INTRODUCTIONAmong cereals, wheat has highest GPC ranging from 8 to 15% (Johnson et al., 1985) and is one of the most to 15% (Johnson et al., 1985) and is one of the most important components of nutritional value that directly affects bread making and pasta quality (Avni et al., 2014). India has successfully maintained its 2 nd position among wheat producing countries of the world after China by producing 95.9 mt wheat from an area of 30.61 m ha in 2013 -14 (Anonymous, 2014. Assuming an average of 10% GPC in all wheat varieties grown in India, 95.9 m tons of annual produce will amount to 9.59 million mega gram of protein for human and livestock nutrition. Although wheat production in India has been able to keep pace with India's population growth, which is of paramount importance for food security, malnourishment continues to be a serious issue in most developing countries, particularly those in south Asia. According to the estimate made at FAO (www.fao.org), it is predicted that by the year 2015, more than 36% of the people in developing countries can be affected from und...

A High-Density Consensus Map of Common Wheat Integrating Four Mapping Populations Scanned by the 90K SNP Array

“…Over the last three decades molecular markers have increasingly served as a tool for genetic analysis of plant species. Decreasing costs of marker assays are making marker-assisted selection (MAS) increasingly used in breeding programs ( Soto-Cerda et al, 2015 ; Vinod et al, 2015 ; Yaniv et al, 2015 ; Arruda et al, 2016 ; Vasistha et al, 2016 ). Linkage mapping is a major strategy to identify markers tightly linked with quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying many economically important traits ( Zheng et al, 2015 ; Dong et al, 2016 ; Su et al, 2016 ).…”

Development of MAS-derived wheat genotypes with high GPC, PHST and rust resistance

“…In two earlier studies, signi cant improvement in GPC was reported; in one report, 13-17.2% GPC was reported in BC 2 F 3 lines without yield penalty (Vishwakarma et al 2014). In the second report, > 14% GPC was observed in the selected lines (Mishra et al 2015). An increase of 0.8%-3.3% in GPC in MAS derived lines was also reported (Gupta et al 2022).…”

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Novel Genomic Regions Associated With High Grain Protein Content in Wheat Lines Derived From Wild Emmer Wheat

“…This gene encodes a NAC-domain transcription factor that accelerates senescence and increases nutrient remobilization from leaves to developing grains (Uauy et al, 2006b). The introgression of Gpc-B1 in breeding programs has shown significant improvement in GPC (Kumar et al, 2011; Mishra et al, 2015; Vishwakarma et al, 2016). However, the presence of Gpc-B1 was associated with reductions in grain weight and yield in some wheat varieties and environments (Uauy et al, 2006a; Brevis and Dubcovsky, 2010; Tabbita et al, 2013).…”