Abstract
Key message
A total of 38 putative additive QTLs and 55 pairwise putative epistatic QTLs for tiller-related traits were reported, and the candidate genes underlying qMtn-KJ-5D, a novel major and stable QTL for maximum tiller number, were characterized.
Abstract
Tiller-related traits play an important role in determining the yield potential of wheat. Therefore, it is important to elucidate the genetic basis for tiller number when attempting to use genetic improvement as a tool for enhancing wheat yields. In this study, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of three tiller-related traits was performed on the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of a mapping population, referred to as KJ-RILs, that was derived from a cross between the Kenong 9204 (KN9204) and Jing 411 (J411) lines. A total of 38 putative additive QTLs and 55 pairwise putative epistatic QTLs for spike number per plant (SNPP), maximum tiller number (MTN), and ear-bearing tiller rate (EBTR) were detected in eight different environments. Among these QTLs with additive effects, three major and stable QTLs were first documented herein. Almost all but two pairwise epistatic QTLs showed minor interaction effects accounting for no more than 3.0% of the phenotypic variance. The genetic effects of two colocated major and stable QTLs, i.e., qSnpp-KJ-5D.1 and qMtn-KJ-5D, for yield-related traits were characterized. The breeding selection effect of the beneficial allele for the two QTLs was characterized, and its genetic effects on yield-related traits were evaluated. The candidate genes underlying qMtn-KJ-5D were predicted based on multi-omics data, and TraesKN5D01HG00080 was identified as a likely candidate gene. Overall, our results will help elucidate the genetic architecture of tiller-related traits and can be used to develop novel wheat varieties with high yields.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Agricultural Variety Improvement Project of Shandong Province, China (2021LZGC009), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2022MC119), Taishan scholar young expert (20230119), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32072051, 32101726, 32272119), Major Basic Research Project of Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2019ZD16), and Yantai science and technology plan project (2023ZDCX0 23).
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YC and XZ wrote the manuscript; CW, AL, and ZS conducted the field trials; YC, XZ, SL, XS, SY, YG, and JC performed the experiments; YW, RQ, and HS analyzed the data; CZ, JL, and FC designed the study; and all the authors have read and approved the manuscript.
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Cai, Y., Zhou, X., Wang, C. et al. Quantitative trait loci detection for three tiller-related traits and the effects on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yields. Theor Appl Genet 137, 87 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04589-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04589-x