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Genome-wide association analysis of potassium uptake and translocation rates under low K stress in Tibetan wild barley

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Abstract

A low level of available potassium (K) in soils is a major factor restricting crop growth and production. In earlier studies we found that Tibetan wild barley has a wider variation in low K stress tolerance than cultivated barley. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association analysis of 179 Tibetan wild barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) accessions exposed to low K stress and investigated the associations of K uptake rate (KUR), K translocation rate (KTR) and other K metabolism traits with 11,013 diversity arrays technology markers. The results showed that there were significant differences in tissue K concentration and content, KUR and KTR among the wild barley accessions analyzed. Scores for all traits showed a normal distribution. Three significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for KUR and KTR were identified and located on 6H and 1H. These QTLs were found to be associated with the cation/H(+) antiporter and cyclic nucleotide gated channel. A number of unique candidate genes associated with K-related signals, including K channels, K transporters and ethylene-related genes, were also identified. The K channels and K transporters involved in K uptake and translocation, respectively, were closely associated with KUR in response to low K stress. The present study highlights the potential of Tibetan wild barley to provide elite candidate genes for the improvement of K use efficiency of barley.

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Arrows The point indicated by the arrow represents the significant association signals

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Arrows The point indicated by the arrow represents the significant association signals

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Dongfa Sun (Huazhong Agricultural University, China) for providing the Tibetan wild barley accessions.

Funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31620103912 by Guoping Zhang, 31771685 by Jianbin Zeng), China Agriculture Research System (CARS-05 by Guoping Zhang) and Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production (JCIC-MCP by Guoping Zhang). These funding bodies provided the financial support in carrying out the experiments, sample and data analysis, and MS writing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Yuhangtang Road 866, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Zhilan Ye, Lingzhen Ye, Lizhi Long & Guoping Zhang

  2. College of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China

    Jianbin Zeng

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  1. Zhilan Ye
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  2. Jianbin Zeng
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  3. Lingzhen Ye
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by ZY, JZ, LY, LL and GZ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ZY, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Guoping Zhang.

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Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material 1: Table S1

All phenotypic traits data of each wild barley accessions (XLSX 96 kb)

Supplementary material 2: Table S2

The definitions and abbreviations of phenotypic traits (XLSX 13 kb)

Supplementary material 3: Table S3

The Q matrix of 179 barley accessions (XLSX 15 kb)

Supplementary material 4: Table S4

The kinship matrix of 179 barley accessions (XLSX 383 kb)

Supplementary material 5: Table S5–S8

Table S5–S8 (DOCX 22 kb)

Supplementary material 6: Table S9

SNPs and candidate gene from GWAS in KUR and KTR (XLSX 15 kb)

Supplementary material 7: Table S10

Outline of 32 SNPs relative information (XLSX 22 kb)

Supplementary material 8: Table S11

Summary of three genes from KUR and KTR (XLSX 12 kb)

Supplementary material 9: Table S12

Transcripts of three genes of Hordeum vulgare L. (XLSX 13 kb)

Supplementary material 10: Table S13

Amino acid sequences of three gene of Hordeum vulgare L. (XLSX 14 kb)

Supplementary material 11: Table S14

Summary of AP2-like ethylene-responsive transcription factors participated in ethylene biosynthesis (DOCX 16 kb)

Supplementary material 12: Figure S1–S5

Figure S1–S5 (PPTX 328 kb)

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Ye, Z., Zeng, J., Ye, L. et al. Genome-wide association analysis of potassium uptake and translocation rates under low K stress in Tibetan wild barley. Euphytica 216, 35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-020-2556-5

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