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Genetic variation for flowering time and height reducing genes and important traits in western Canadian spring wheat

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Abstract

Genetic variation is prerequisite for wheat improvement. High grain yield and protein content and early maturity are some of the major objectives in global as well as Canadian wheat breeding programs. We investigated genetic diversity for earliness related and plant height reducing (Rht) genes in 82 spring wheat cultivars, registered in western Canada, through eight diagnostic DNA markers. Allelic variation was observed at the Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1, Vrn-D1 and Ppd-D1 loci but not at Ppd-A1 and Ppd-B1 loci in the 82 cultivars. Spring type allele of Vrn-A1 was present in 94 % cultivars, whereas only two cultivars carried spring allele of Vrn-D1. Among the four earliness related genes, the most frequent combination was Vrn-A1a, Vrn-B1, vrn-D1 and Ppd-D1b, which was found in 32 cultivars. As for the Rht genes, eight cultivars had Rht-B1b and 13 cultivars had Rht-D1b. All cultivars carrying dominant allele of Vrn-B1, photoperiod-insensitive allele of Ppd-D1 and height reducing allele of Rht-1 had shorter plants and higher grain yield but lower grain protein content. Days to heading and maturity showed positive genetic (rg = 0.65) and phenotypic (rp = 0.44) correlation, and were also positively correlated with grain yield and kernel weight but negatively correlated with test weight and protein content. Plant height was positively correlated with grain protein content (rg = 0.53; rp = 0.42), but negatively correlated with grain yield (rg = −0.47; rp = −0.14). Grain yield and protein content showed negative genetic correlation (rg = −0.57). Among the sixty cultivars from Canada Western Red Spring Class released over 100 years, the newest cultivar yielded 23 % more grain and had 15 % higher grain protein than the oldest cultivar ‘Red Fife’. Breeders in western Canada have incorporated vernalization and photoperiod insensitive and Rht genes in modern cultivars to promote early maturity, to make use of off-season nurseries abroad, and to improve lodging tolerance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Klaus Strenzke, Lexie Martin, Corey Howard, Jennifer Ens, Enid Perez-Lara, Hiroshi Kubota, Izabela Ciechanowska, Fabiana Dias, Joe Back, Russell Puk and Joseph Moss for technical assistance. This research was supported by grants to the University of Alberta wheat breeding program from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Western Grains Research Foundation Endowment Fund and an NSERC Discovery Grant to D. Spaner. This work was conducted in part within the project “Canadian Triticum Advancement through Genomics (CTAG)”. We would like to acknowledge “CTAG” funding provided by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Western Grains Research Foundation, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Genome Canada and Genome Alberta. The first author received a scholarship from China Scholarship Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, 4-10 Ag/For Centre, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2P5, Canada

    Hua Chen, Neshat Pazooki Moakhar, Muhammad Iqbal & Dean Spaner

  2. National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, 45500, Pakistan

    Muhammad Iqbal

  3. Crop Development Centre and Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8, Canada

    Curtis Pozniak & Pierre Hucl

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  1. Hua Chen
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  2. Neshat Pazooki Moakhar
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  3. Muhammad Iqbal
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  6. Dean Spaner
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Correspondence to Dean Spaner.

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Chen, H., Moakhar, N.P., Iqbal, M. et al. Genetic variation for flowering time and height reducing genes and important traits in western Canadian spring wheat. Euphytica 208, 377–390 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-015-1615-9

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