Dissection of genetic factors underlying grain size and fine mapping of QTgw.cau-7D in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

• Published in: Theoretical and applied genetics Vol. 133; no. 1; pp. 149 - 162
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhaoyan, Cheng, Xuejiao, Chai, Lingling, Wang, Zhihui, Bian, Ruolin, Li, Jiang, Zhao, Aiju, Xin, Mingming, Guo, Weilong, Hu, Zhaorong, Peng, Huiru, Yao, Yingyin, Sun, Qixin, Ni, Zhongfu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analysis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Gene mapping; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic factors; Genetic Linkage; Grain size; Inbreeding; Life Sciences; Marker-assisted selection; Organ Size; Original Article; Phenotype; Phenotypic variations; Physical Chromosome Mapping; Plant Biochemistry; Plant breeding; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Quantitative genetics; Quantitative trait loci; Quantitative Trait Loci - genetics; Seeds - anatomy & histology; Seeds - genetics; Surgery; Triticum - anatomy & histology; Triticum - genetics; Triticum aestivum; China
• ISSN: 0040-5752; 1432-2242
• DOI: 10.1007/s00122-019-03447-5

Key message Thirty environmentally stable QTL controlling grain size and/or plant height were identified, among which QTgw.cau - 7D was delimited into the physical interval of approximately 4.4 Mb. Grain size and plant height (PHT) are important agronomic traits in wheat breeding. To dissect the genetic basis of these traits, we conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis using recombinant inbred lines (RILs). In total, 30 environmentally stable QTL for thousand grain weight (TGW), grain length (GL), grain width (GW) and PHT were detected. Notably, one major pleiotropic QTL on chromosome arm 3DS explained the highest phenotypic variance for TGW, GL and PHT, and two stable QTL ( QGw.cau - 4B and QGw.cau - 7D ) on chromosome arms 4BS and 7DS contributed greater effects for GW. Furthermore, the stable QTL controlling grain size ( QTgw.cau - 7D and QGw.cau - 7D ) were delimited into the physical interval of approximately 4.4 Mb harboring 56 annotated genes. The elite NILs of QTgw.cau - 7D increased TGW by 12.79–21.75% and GW by 4.10–8.47% across all three environments. Collectively, these results provide further insight into the genetic basis of TGW, GL, GW and PHT, and the fine-mapped QTgw.cau - 7D will be an attractive target for positional cloning and marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding programs.