Detection of QTL for spike fertility related traits in two doubled haploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) populations

PRETINI NICOLE; VANZETTI, LEONARDO; TERRILE IGNACIO; DONAIRE GUILLERMO; GONZÁLEZ FERNANDA G

Congreso; XXXIII Argentinean Meeting of Plant Physiology; 2021

In breeding programs, the selection of cultivars with the highest yield potential consisted in the selection of the yield per se, which resulted in cultivars with higher grains per spike (GN) and occasionally increased grain weight (GW). In this study, we used two doubled haploid (DH) populations (Baguette Premium 11 x BioINTA 2002 and Baguette 19 x BioINTA 2002) which were genotyped with an iSelect SNP 90K array and phenotyped in 4 and 5 environments respectively. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for GW, GN and spike fertility traits were mapped using the QTL Cartographer 2.5 software. In total 305 QTL were identified for 14 traits, out of which 12 QTL were identified in more than three environments and explained more than 10% of the phenotypic variation in at least one environment. Eight hotspot regions were detected on chromosomes 1A, 2B, 3A, 5A, 5B, 7A and 7B in which at least two major and stable QTL sheared confidence intervals. QTL on two of these regions (R5A.1 and R5A.2) have previously been described, but the other six regions are novel. Based on the pleiotropic analysis within a robust physiological model we conclude that the hotspot genomic regions R5A.1 and R5A.2, together with the QGW.perg-6B are of high relevance to be used in marker assisted selection in order to improve the spike yield potential. All the QTL identified are the first step to search for their candidate genes, which will allow their better manipulation in the future.