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QTL for flag leaf size and their influence on yield-related traits in wheat

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Abstract

Flag leaf-related traits (FLRTs) are determinant traits affecting plant architecture and yield potential in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study, three related recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations with a common female parent were developed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for flag leaf width (FLW), length (FLL), and area (FLA) in four environments. A total of 31 QTL were detected in four environments. Two QTL for FLL on chromosomes 3B and 4A (QFll-3B and QFll-4A) and one for FLW on chromosome 2A (QFlw-2A) were major stable QTL. Ten QTL clusters (C1–C10) simultaneously controlling FLRTs and yield-related traits (YRTs) were identified. To investigate the genetic relationship between FLRTs and YRTs, correlation analysis was conducted. FLRTs were found to be positively correlated with YRTs especially with kernel weight per spike and kernel number per spike in all the three RIL populations and negatively correlated with spike number per plant. Appropriate flag leaf size could benefit the formation of high yield potential. This study laid a genetic foundation for improving yield potential in wheat molecular breeding programs.

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Abbreviations

FLRTs:

Flag leaf-related traits

FLW:

Flag leaf width

FLL:

Flag leaf length

FLA:

Flag leaf area

YRTs:

Yield-related traits

TKW:

Thousand-kernel weight

KL:

Kernel length

KW:

Kernel width

KNPS:

Kernel number per spike

SNPP:

Spike number per plant

KWPP:

Kernel weight per plant

KWPS:

Kernel weight per spike

HD:

Heading date

WL:

Recombinant inbred line population derived from the cross between Weimai 8 and Luohan 2

WY:

Recombinant inbred line population derived from the cross between Weimai 8 and Yannong 19

WJ:

Recombinant inbred line population derived from the cross between Weimai 8 and Jimai 20

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31701505, 31471573, 31671673), Shandong Provincial Science Foundation for Outstanding Youth (ZR2017JL017), and Natural Science Foundation of Lu dong University (33060301, 33140301).

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Author notes

  1. Chunhua Zhao and Fa Cui have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture, Ludong University, Yantai, 264025, China

    Chunhua Zhao, Chunhui Guan, Junpeng Cui, Yongzhen Wu, Han Sun & Fa Cui

  2. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Tai’an Subcenter of National Wheat Improvement Center, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, 271018, China

    Yinguang Bao, Xingfeng Li & Honggang Wang

  3. Zaozhuang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zaozhuang, 277100, Shandong, China

    Xiuqin Wang

  4. Weifang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Weifang, 261071, Shandong, China

    Haitao Yu

  5. Key Laboratory for Tobacco Gene Resources, Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, Shandong, China

    Anming Ding

  6. Shandong Denghai Seeds Company, Limited, Laizhou, 61400, Shandong, China

    Dongfeng Zhai

  7. Yan’tai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yant’ai, 264025, China

    Linzhi Li

Authors
  1. Chunhua Zhao
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  2. Yinguang Bao
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  3. Xiuqin Wang
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  4. Haitao Yu
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  8. Yongzhen Wu
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  9. Han Sun
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  11. Dongfeng Zhai
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  12. Linzhi Li
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  13. Honggang Wang
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  14. Fa Cui
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Contributions

Authors’ Contribution

HW and FC designed research; CZ, AD, and YB conducted genotyping of the three RIL populations; CZ, XW, HY, CG, JC, DZ, LL and XL conducted phenotyping of the three populations; CZ, FC, HS and YW analyzed data and wrote the paper; HW and XL had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Honggang Wang or Fa Cui.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All of the authors have read and have abided by the statement of ethical standards for manuscripts submitted to Euphytica.

Electronic supplementary material

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10681_2018_2288_MOESM1_ESM.png

Supplementary Fig. 1 Comparing the effects of FLRTs on YRTs using 20 RILs each ranked top-20 and ranked bottom-20 of the flag size. WL, WY and WJ represent the population derived from crosses between Weimai 8 × Luohan 2, Weimai 8 × Yannong 19, and Weimai 8 × Jimai 20, respectively. FLL: Flag leaf length; FLW: Flag leaf width; FLA: Flag leaf area; TKW: Thousand-kernel weight; KNPS: Kernel number per spike; KWPS: kernel weight per spike; SNPP: Spike number per plant; KWPP: Kernel weight per plant (PNG 378 kb)

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Zhao, C., Bao, Y., Wang, X. et al. QTL for flag leaf size and their influence on yield-related traits in wheat. Euphytica 214, 209 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-018-2288-y

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