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Gene networks in hexaploid wheat: interacting quantitative trait loci for grain protein content

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Abstract

In hexaploid wheat, single-locus and two-locus quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses for grain protein content (GPC) were conducted using two different mapping populations (PI and PII). Main effect QTLs (M-QTLs), epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) and QTL × environment interactions (QE, QQE) were detected using two-locus analyses in both the populations. Only a few QTLs were common in both the analyses, and the QTLs and the interactions detected in the two populations differed, suggesting the superiority of two-locus analysis and the need for using several mapping populations for QTL analysis. A sizable proportion of genetic variation for GPC was due to interactions (28.59% and 54.03%), rather than to M-QTL effects (7.24% and 7.22%), which are the only genetic effects often detected in the majority of QTL studies. Even E-QTLs made a marginal contribution to genetic variation (2.68% and 6.04%), thus suggesting that the major part of genetic variation is due to changes in gene networks rather than the presence or absence of specific genes. This is in sharp contrast to the genetic dissection of pre-harvest sprouting tolerance conducted by us earlier, where interaction effects were not substantial, suggesting that the nature of genetic variation also depends on the nature of the trait.

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Acknowledgements

National Agricultural Technology Project, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi and Department of Biotechnology, Government of India supported this work. During the period of this study, P.L.K. and N.K. each held a Senior Research Fellowship of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi and P.K.G. held positions of UGC Emeritus Fellow (2002–2003) and INSA Senior Scientist. Thanks are due to Professor Jun Zhu, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China for conducting two-locus QTL analysis and to G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar and P.A.U., Ludhiana, India for their help in conducting field trials.

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  1. Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, 250 004, India

    Pawan Kulwal, Neeraj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Harindra Singh Balyan & Pushpendra Kumar Gupta

  2. Directorate of Wheat Research, Agrasain Road, Post Box 158, Karnal, 132 001, India

    Raj Kumar Gupta

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  1. Pawan Kulwal
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  2. Neeraj Kumar
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  3. Ajay Kumar
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  4. Raj Kumar Gupta
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  5. Harindra Singh Balyan
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  6. Pushpendra Kumar Gupta
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Correspondence to Pushpendra Kumar Gupta.

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The first two authors contributed equally to this manuscript

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Kulwal, P., Kumar, N., Kumar, A. et al. Gene networks in hexaploid wheat: interacting quantitative trait loci for grain protein content. Funct Integr Genomics 5, 254–259 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-005-0136-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-005-0136-3

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