Abstract
In the last century wheat breeding programs have shown consistent yield increases, often associated with lower grain protein concentrations (GPC). A better understanding of the genetic basis of grain yield and grain protein content can help break the grain yield—GPC negative correlation. We developed a nested association mapping population composing a set of spring wheat genotypes for genetic dissection of grain yield and quality with ‘Blanca Fuerte’ (high yield and low grain protein content) as recurrent parent and cultivars and advanced lines from CIMMYT and California (UC Davis breeding program, medium–high yield and grain protein content). The QTL analyses revealed three genomic regions on chromosomes 2B, 6A, and 6B associated with significant increases in GPC but negative effects on yield, and one region on chromosome 5B associated with significant increases in grain yield but negative effects on GPC. More interestingly, we identified two genomic regions on chromosomes 2B and 3B associated with increases in GPC and no significant effects on grain yield and a genomic region on chromosome 1A associated with a significant increase in grain yield and no penalty in GPC. These last three genomic regions and their associated markers are promising tools for wheat breeding programs interested in breaking the negative correlation between GPC and grain yield.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the supplementary files.
Abbreviations
- QTL:
-
Quantitative trait locus
- CIMMYT:
-
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
- GPC:
-
Grain protein content
- YLD:
-
Yield
- IWGSC:
-
International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium
- NAM:
-
Nested Association Mapping
- RIL:
-
Recombinant inbred line
- HWSN:
-
Hard white spring wheat
- HRSW:
-
Hard red spring wheat
- HMW-G:
-
High molecular weight glutenin
- 2NS:
-
Translocation from Aegilops ventricosa (Zhuk.)
- UC:
-
University of California
- CA:
-
California
- N:
-
North
- S:
-
South
- W:
-
West
- RIBD:
-
Randomized incomplete block design
- BLUE:
-
Best linear unbiased estimator
- H2:
-
Broad sense heritability
- MIXED::
-
Linear model procedure
- SNPs:
-
Single nucleotide polymorphisms
- DNA:
-
Deoxyribonucleic acid
- USDA:
-
U.S. Department of Agriculture
- CTAB:
-
(Also called hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide) is a cationic detergent
- CIM:
-
Composite interval mapping
- LOD:
-
Logarithm of odds
- PH:
-
Plant height
- HD:
-
Heading date
- TKW:
-
Thousand kernel weight
- SKLT:
-
Spikelets per spike
- GN:
-
Grain number per square meter
- SF:
-
Spike fertility
- HI:
-
Harvest index
- DB:
-
Dry biomass
- TW:
-
Test weight
- GW:
-
Grain weight
- GNS:
-
Grains number per spike
- HIS:
-
Harvest index per spike
- GxE:
-
Genotype by environment
- DVS:
-
Davis
- MJ:
-
Marcos Juárez
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky (UCDavis, California, EEUU) for kindly providing the Nested Association Mapping population, the genotyping used in this study, and the support to carry out the field experiments at the University of California, Davis.
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GD and MH conceived the experiments and the manuscript; GD, CB, and OC carried out the field experiments; GD obtained all the phenotypic information used; GD and LM performed the grain protein content analysis; GD and MBC and LSV performed the QTL and statistical analysis; MH, GD, and LSV drafted the manuscript; MH, LB, and LSV improved the manuscript. All the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Donaire, G., Vanzetti, L.S., Conde, M.B. et al. Dissecting genetic loci of yield, yield components, and protein content in bread wheat nested association mapping population. Euphytica 219, 65 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-023-03195-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-023-03195-0