Abstract
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal crops for ensuring food security worldwide. Identification of major quantitative trait loci (QTL) for spike-related traits is important for improvement of yield potential in wheat breeding. In this study, by using the wheat 55K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and diversity array technology (DArT), two recombinant inbred line populations derived from crosses avocet/chilero and avocet/huites were used to map QTL for kernel number per spike (KNS), total spikelet number per spike (TSS), fertile spikelet number per spike (FSS), and spike compactness (SC). Forty-two QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2A (4), 2B (3), 3A (2), 3B (7), 5A (11), 6A (4), 6B, and 7A (10), explaining 3.13–21.80% of the phenotypic variances. Twelve QTLs were detected in multi-environments on chromosomes 2A, 3B (2), 5A (4), 6A (3), 6B, and 7A, while four QTL clusters were detected on chromosomes 3A, 3B, 5A, and 7A. Two stable and new QTL clusters, QKns/Tss/Fss/SC.haust-5A and QKns/Tss/Fss.haust-7A, were detected in the physical intervals of 547.49–590.46 Mb and 511.54–516.15 Mb, accounting for 7.53–14.78% and 7.01–20.66% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. High-confidence annotated genes for QKns/Tss/Fss/SC.haust-5A and QKns/Tss/Fss.haust-7A were more highly expressed in spike development. The results provide new QTL and molecular markers for marker-assisted breeding in wheat.
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Data availability
Data of two F6 RIL populations are not publicly available because the research on other important traits is on-going, but are available from the corresponding author per request. The other data generated or analyzed in this study are included in this manuscript and supplementary files.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the critical review of this manuscript by Dr. Ravi Singh at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Professor Xiue Wang at Nanjing Agricultural University, Professor Caixia Lan at Huazhong Agricultural University, and Associate Professor Weiqing Li at Henan University of Science and Technology.
Funding
This work was financially supported by the Shennong Laboratory (SN01-2022-01), Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (162300410077), and International Cooperation Project of Henan Province (172102410052).
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CP designed the experiments. ZK conducted phenotypic trait evaluations. YY conducted statistical analysis and writing of the paper. CP, JC, and DH revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
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Wang, Y., Zeng, Z., Li, J. et al. Identification and validation of new quantitative trait loci for spike-related traits in two RIL populations. Mol Breeding 43, 64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-023-01401-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-023-01401-4