Dissection of novel candidate genes for grain texture in Russian wheat varieties

• Published in: Plant molecular biology Vol. 104; no. 3; pp. 219 - 233
• Main Authors: Kiseleva, Antonina A., Leonova, Irina N., Pshenichnikova, Tatyana A., Salina, Elena A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alleles; Association analysis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbohydrates; Chromosomes; Cultivation; Endosperm; Galactolipids; Genotyping; Grain cultivation; Heritability; Life Sciences; Phenotyping; Plant Pathology; Plant Sciences; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Spring wheat; β-Glucan; Grain texture; Grain hardness; Candidate genes
• ISSN: 0167-4412; 1573-5028
• DOI: 10.1007/s11103-020-01025-8

Key Message Wheat grain texture is a complex trait. The crucial role of puroindoline genes in grain texture determination was confirmed. New loci, highly associated with the trait, were identified and dissected. Grain texture is an important milling characteristic of common wheat. Previously, it was shown that the Ha locus on 5DS, containing the puroindoline-a, puroindoline-b and GSP-1 genes, has a crucial role in endosperm texture. However, some other loci were detected on different chromosomes, but no specific genes were proposed to be involved in grain hardness organization. In this study, we used a panel of Russian spring wheat varieties. The grain texture of varieties ranged from soft to hard. Analysis of the flour particle size and flour particle specific surface of wheat varieties cultivated in different environments demonstrated high heritability (0.79–0.8) and strong repeatability of the traits. Genotyping of wheat varieties with allele-specific markers for the puroindoline-a and puroindoline-b genes demonstrated that 25% of the studied varieties carried rare allele Pin-D1k , which lacked both Pina and Pinb (double null allele). Our results confirmed the strong impact of this allele on grain texture. Association analysis with the use of SNP genotyping (Illumina 15 K Wheat) and 2-year phenotyping confirmed the key role played by puroindoline genes (5D) in determining the grain texture of Russian wheat varieties. The analysis also detected significant SNPs on the 1B, 3A, 5B, 6A, 6D, 7B, 7D chromosomes. The best candidate loci for the grain texture were located on chromosomes 5B and 7B (FDR ≤ 0.05). We dissected a number of candidate genes and proposed a possible mechanism for their contribution to endosperm texture determination. These genes are involved in the metabolism of galactolipids (DGDG) and carbohydrates (1,3- β -glucan).