Please wait a minute...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2012, Vol. 12 Issue (9): 1399-1408    DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8671
Crop Genetics · Breeding · Germplasm Resources Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Identification of QTLs Conferring Agronomic and Quality Traits in Hexaploid Wheat
 MAJun, ZHANGCai-ying, YANGui-jun, andLIUChun-ji
1.CSIRO Plant Industry, St Lucia QLD 4067, Australia
2.Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources of Hebei Province/College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding 071001, P.R.China
3.School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Perth WA 6009 Australia
Download:  PDF in ScienceDirect  
Export:  BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      
摘要  The availability of elite germplasm resources with high yield and quality potentials is very important for development of cultivars in wheat. Thus, seeking such resources has been the continuous effort of breeder community. In this study, genetic analysis of a novel resource, Triticum spelta line CSCR6, from Australia was made by use of a recombination inbred line (RIL) population of 82 individuals from the cross between CSCR6 and another Australian hexaploid wheat cultivar, Lang. Data of a multiple environmental test was employed to genetically dissect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for agronomic traits such as plant height (PH), spike length (SL), spikelet per spike (SPI), grain number per spike (GNS) and thousand grains weight (TGW) and for quality traits including grain protein content (GPC), gluten content (GC), grain hardness (GH), falling number (FN) and sedimentation value (SV). A 24 QTLs with additive effects were detected for all the investigated traits, and were located on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4B, 5A, 5B, 7A, and 7B, respectively. Some QTLs located on 2B and 4B showed higher explanation of phenotypic variances and were not obviously interacted with environment. A QTL in the marker interval of wPT-5334-wPT-4918 (near the locus barc 0199) on 4B gave the highest contribution ratio of 30.76% on PH, while Qgpc-4B and Qgc-4B gave 13.07 and 14.70% contribution ratio on GPC and GC, respectively. Qph-2B, Qgns-2B, and Qgpc-2B showed 13.36, 10.00, and 10.79% contribution ratio on PH, GNS and GPC, respectively. Also, a QTL on 5A, Qsl- 5A, could explain 25.12% of phenotypic variance on SL. For most of agronomic and quality traits, CSCR6 alleles produced increase effects. The fact that a number of loci affecting the investigated traits were detected in T. spelta line CSCR6 revealed that it could offer a new opportunity for the manipulation of these traits in wheat breeding programs.

Abstract  The availability of elite germplasm resources with high yield and quality potentials is very important for development of cultivars in wheat. Thus, seeking such resources has been the continuous effort of breeder community. In this study, genetic analysis of a novel resource, Triticum spelta line CSCR6, from Australia was made by use of a recombination inbred line (RIL) population of 82 individuals from the cross between CSCR6 and another Australian hexaploid wheat cultivar, Lang. Data of a multiple environmental test was employed to genetically dissect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for agronomic traits such as plant height (PH), spike length (SL), spikelet per spike (SPI), grain number per spike (GNS) and thousand grains weight (TGW) and for quality traits including grain protein content (GPC), gluten content (GC), grain hardness (GH), falling number (FN) and sedimentation value (SV). A 24 QTLs with additive effects were detected for all the investigated traits, and were located on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4B, 5A, 5B, 7A, and 7B, respectively. Some QTLs located on 2B and 4B showed higher explanation of phenotypic variances and were not obviously interacted with environment. A QTL in the marker interval of wPT-5334-wPT-4918 (near the locus barc 0199) on 4B gave the highest contribution ratio of 30.76% on PH, while Qgpc-4B and Qgc-4B gave 13.07 and 14.70% contribution ratio on GPC and GC, respectively. Qph-2B, Qgns-2B, and Qgpc-2B showed 13.36, 10.00, and 10.79% contribution ratio on PH, GNS and GPC, respectively. Also, a QTL on 5A, Qsl- 5A, could explain 25.12% of phenotypic variance on SL. For most of agronomic and quality traits, CSCR6 alleles produced increase effects. The fact that a number of loci affecting the investigated traits were detected in T. spelta line CSCR6 revealed that it could offer a new opportunity for the manipulation of these traits in wheat breeding programs.
Keywords:  wheat      QTL analysis      RILs      agronomic traits      quality traits  
Received: 26 December 2011   Accepted:
Fund: 

The study was partially funded by the Visiting Scientist Scholarship and Wheat Breeding Research Project of Hebei Province, China (06220114D).

Corresponding Authors:  Correspondence ZHANG Cai-ying, Tel: +86-312-7521558, E-mail: zhangcaiying@hebau.edu.cn   

Cite this article: 

MAJun , ZHANGCai-ying , YANGui-jun , andLIUChun-ji . 2012. Identification of QTLs Conferring Agronomic and Quality Traits in Hexaploid Wheat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12(9): 1399-1408.

[1]Akbari M, Wenzl P, Caig V, Carlig J, Xia L, Yang S, Uszynski G, Mohler V, Lehmensiek A, Kuchel H, et al. 2006. Diversity arrays technology (DArT) for highthroughput profiling of the hexaploid wheat genome. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 113, 1409-1420.

[2]Blanco A, Pasqualone A, Troccoli A, Fonzo N D, Simeone R. 2002. Detection of grain protein content QTLs across environments in tetraploid wheats. Plant Molecular Biology, 48, 615-623.

[3]Cadalen T, Sourdille P, Charmet G, Tixier M H, Gay G, Boeuf C, Bernard S, Leroy P, Bernard M. 1998. Molecular marker linked to genes affecting plant height in wheat using a doubled-haploid population. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 96, 933-940.

[4]Campbell B T, Baenziger P S, Gill K S, Eskridge K M, Budak H, Erayman M, Dweikat I, Yen Y. 2003. Identification of QTL and environmental interactions associated with agronomic traits on chromosome 3A of wheat. Crop Science, 43, 1493-1505.

[5]Campbell K G, Bergman C J, Gualberto D G, Anderson J A, Giroux M J, Hareland G, Fulcher R G, Sorrells M E, Finney P L. 1999. Quantitative trait loci associated with kernel traits in a soft×hard wheat cross. Crop Science, 39, 1184-1195.

[6]Carter A H, Garland-Campbell K, Kidwell K K. 2011. Genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci associated with important agronomic traits in the spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cross ‘Louise’בPenawawa’. Crop Science, 51, 84-95.

[7]Griffiths S, Simmonds J, Leverington M, Wang Y, Fish L, Sayers L, Alibert L, Orford S, Wingen L, Snape J. 2012. Meta-QTL analysis of the genetic control of crop height in elite European winter wheat germplasm. Molecular Breeding, 29, 159-171.

[8]Groos C, Bervas E, Charmet G. 2004. Genetic analysis of grain protein content, grain hardness and dough rheology in a hard×hard bread wheat progeny. Journal of Cereal Science, 40, 93-100.

[9]Heidari B, Sayed-Tabatabaei B E, Saeidi G, Kearsey M, Suenaga K. 2011. Mapping QTL for grain yield, yield components, and spike features in a doubled haploid population of bread wheat, Genome, 54, 517-527.

[10]Hong Y H, Xiao N, Zhang C, Su Y, Chen J M. 2009. Principle of diversity arrays technology (DArT) and its applications in genetic research of plants. Hereditas, 31, 359-364.

[11]Huang X Q, Cloutier S, Lycar L, LRadovanovic N, Humphreys D G, Noll J S, Somers D J, Brown P D. 2006. Molecular detection of QTLs for agronomic and quality traits in a doubled haploid population derived from two Canadian wheats (Triticum aestivum L.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 113, 753-766.

[12]Jaccoud D, Peng K, Feinstein D, Kilian A. 2001. Diversity arrays: a solid state technology for sequence information independent genotyping. Nucleic Acids Research, 29, e25. Kuchel H, Langridge P, Mosionek L, Williams K, Jefferies S P. 2006. The genetic control of milling yield, dough rheology and baking quality of wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 112, 1487-1495.

[13]Kunert A, Naz A A, Dedeck O, Pillen K, Léon J. 2007. ABQTL analysis in winter wheat: I. Synthetic hexaploid wheat (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides×T. tauschii) as a source of favourable alleles for milling and baking quality traits. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 115, 683-695.

[14]Lehmensiek A, Eckermann P J, Verbyla A P, Appels R, Sutherland M W, Martin D, Daggard G E. 2006. Flour yield QTLs in three Australian doubled haploid wheat populations. Australian Journal of Agricultural Reseach, 57, 1115-1122.

[15]Liu D C, Gao M Q, Guan R X, Li R Z, Cao S H, Guo X L, Zhang A M. 2002. Mapping quantitative trait loci for plant height in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using a F2:3 population. Acta Genetica Sinica, 29, 706-711.

[16]Liu S B, Zhou R H, Dong Y C, Li P, Jia J Z. 2006. Development, utilization of introgression lines using a synthetic wheat as donor. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 112, 1360-1373.

[17]Ma J, Li H B, Zhang C Y, Yang X M, Liu Y X, Yan G J, Liu C J. 2010. Identification and validation of a major QTL conferring crown rot resistance in hexaploid wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 120, 1119-1128.

[18]Ma W J, Sutherland M W, Kammholz S, Banks P, Brennan P, Bovill W, Daggard G. 2007. Wheat flour protein content and water absorption analysis in a doubled haploid population. Journal of Cereal Science, 45, 302-308.

[19]Marza F, Bai G H, Carver B F, Zhou W C. 2006. Quantitative trait loci for yield and related traits in the wheat population Ning7840×Clark. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 112, 688-698.

[20]McCartney C A, Somers D J, Humphreys D G, Lukow O, Ames N, Noll J, Cloutier S, McCallum B D. 2005. Mapping quantitative trait loci controlling agronomic traits in the spring wheat cross RL4452בAC Domain’. Genome, 48, 870-883.

[21]McCartney C A, Somers D J, Lukow O, Ames N, Noll J, Cloutier S, Humphreys D G, McCallum B D. 2006. QTL analysis of quality traits in the spring wheat cross RL4452בAC Domain’. Plant Breeding, 125, 565-575.

[22]Miura H, Parker B B, Snape J W. 1992. The location of major genes and associated quantitative trait loci on chromosome arm 5BL of wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 85, 197-204.

[23]Peleg Z, Saranga Y, Suprunova T, Ronin Y, Röder M S, Kilian A, Korol A B, Fahima T. 2008. High-density genetic map of durum wheat×wild emmer wheat based on SSR and DArT markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 117, 103-115.

[24]Perretant M R, Cadalen T, Charmet G, Sourdille P, Nicolas P, Boeuf C, Tixier M H, Branlard G, Bernard S, Bernard M. 2000. QTL analysis of bread-making quality in wheat using a doubled haploid population. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 100, 1168-1175.

[25]Prasad M, Varshney R K, Kumar A, Balyan H S, Sharma P C, Edwards K J, Singh H, Dhaliwal H S, Roy J K, Gupta P K. 1999. A microsatellite marker associated with a QTL for grain protein content on chromosome arm 2DL of bread wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 99, 341-345.

[26]Pshenichnikova T A, Ermakova M F, Chistyakova A K, Shchukina L V, Berezovskaya E V, Lochwasser U, Röder M, Börner A. 2008. Mapping of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with grain quality characteristics of the bread wheat grown under different environmental conditions. Russian Journal of Genetics, 44, 74-84.

[27]Quarrie S A, Steed A, Calestani C, Semikhodskii A, Lebreton C, Chinoy C, Steele N, Pljevljakusiæ D E, Waterman E, Weyen J, et al. 2005. A high-density genetic map of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from the cross Chinese spring×SQ1 and its use to compare QTLs for grain yield across a range of environments. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 110, 865-880.

[28]Sadeque A, Turner M A. 2010. QTL analysis of plant height in hexaploid wheat doubled haploid population. Thai Journal of Agricultural Science, 43, 91-96.

[29]Semagn K, Bjørnstad Å, Skinnes H, Marøy A G, Tarkegne Y, William M. 2006. Distribution of DArT, AFLP, and SSR markers in a genetic linkage map of a doubledhaploid hexaploid wheat population. Genome, 49, 545-555.

[30]Smith N, Guttieri M, Souza E, Shoots J, Sorrells M, Sneller C. 2011. Identification and validation of QTL for grain quality traits in a cross of soft wheat cultivars Pioneer Brand 25R26 and Foster. Crop Science, 51, 1424-1436.

[31]Sourdille P, Perretant M R, Charmet G, Leroy P, Gautier M F, Joudrier P, Nelson J C, Sorrels M E, Bernard M. 1996. Linkage between RFLP markers and genes affecting kernel hardness in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 93, 580-586.

[32]Sourdille P, Tixier M H, Charmet G, Gay G, Cadalen T, Bernard S, Bernard M. 2000. Location of genes involved in ear compactness in wheat (Triticum aestivum) by means of molecular markers. Molecular Breeding, 6, 247-255.

[33]Suenaga K, Khairallah M, William H M, Hoisington D A. 2005. A new intervarietal linkage map and its application for quantitative trait locus analysis of “gigas” features in bread wheat. Genome, 48, 65-75.

[34]Sun H Y, Lü J H, Fan Y D, Zhao Y, Kong F M, Li R J, Wang H G, Li S S. 2008. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for quality traits related to protein and starch in wheat. Progress in Nature Science, 18, 825-831.

[35]Suprayogi Y, Pozniak C J, Clarke F R, Clarke J M, Knox R E, Singh A K. 2009. Identification and validation of quantitative trait loci for grain protein concentration in adapted Canadian durum wheat populations. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 119, 437-448.

[36]Turner A S, Bradburne R P, Fish L, Snape J W. 2004. New quantitative trait loci influencing grain texture and protein content in bread wheat. Journal of Cereal Science, 40, 51-60.

[37]Varshney R K, Prasad M, Roy J K, Harjit-Singh N K, Dhaliwal H S, BalyanH S, Gupta P K. 2000. Identification of eight chromosomes and a microsatellite marker on 1AS associated with QTL for grain weight in bread wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 100, 1290-1294.

[38]Verma V, Worland A J, Sayers E J, Fish L, Caligari P D S, Snape J W. 2005. Identification and characterization of quantitative trait loci related to lodging resistance and associated trait in bread wheat. Plant Breeding, 124, 234-241.

[39]Wang J S, Liu W H, Wang H, Li L H, Wu J, Yang X M, Li X Q, Gao A N. 2011. A QTL mapping of yield-related traits in the wheat germplasm 3228. Euphytica, 177, 277-292.

[40]Wang S C, Bastes C J, Zeng Z B. 2005. Windows QTL Cartographer 2.5[CP]. Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N C, USA. Yang J, Hu C, Hu H, Yu R, Xia Z, Ye X, Zhu J. 2008. QTLNetwork: mapping and visualizing genetic architecture of complex traits in experimental populations. Bioinformatics, 24, 721-723.

[41]Yang J, Zhu J, Williams R W. 2007. Mapping the genetic architecture of complex traits in experimental populations. Bioinformatics, 23, 1527-1536.

[42]Zanetti S, Winzeler M, Feuillet C, Keller B, Messmer M. 2001. Genetic analysis of bread-making quality in wheat and spelt. Plant Breeding, 120, 13-19.

[43]Zhang L P, Xu X Q, Zhao C P, Shan F H, Yuan S H, Sun H. 2011. QTL analysis of plant height in photoperiodthermo sensitive male sterile wheat. Molecular Plant Breeding, 2, 92-97.
[1] Pan Hou, Qiang Gao, Yingkai Ren, Jinhong Yu, Lijun Gao, Xiaoxue Liu, Dong Jiang, Weixing Cao, Tingbo Dai, Zhongwei Tian. Straw returning and night-warming improve grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of winter wheat under rice-wheat rotation[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(4): 0-.
[2] Guoming Li, Xiaotian Ren, Shengyan Pang, Changjie Feng, Yuxi Niu, Yanjie Qu, Changhong Liu, Xiang Lin, Dong Wang. Nitrogen redistribution during the grain-filling stage and its correlation with senescence and TaATG8 expression in leaves of winter wheat[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(4): 0-.
[3] Yuhuai Liu, Heng Wang, Li Wang, Jina Ding, Hui Zhai, Qiujin Ma, Can Hu, Tida Ge. Microplastics reduce the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) net photosynthetic rate through rhizospheric effects[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(3): 1263-1275.
[4] Jie Shuai, Qiang Tu, Yicong Zhang, Xiaobo Xia, Yuhua Wang, Shulin Cao, Yifan Dong, Xinli Zhou, Xu Zhang, Zhengguang Zhang, Yi He, Gang Li. Silence of five Fusarium graminearum genes in wheat host confers resistance to Fusarium head blight[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(3): 1051-1063.
[5] Jili Xu, Shuo Liu, Zhiyuan Gao, Qingdong Zeng, Xiaowen Zhang, Dejun Han, Hui Tian. Genome-wide association study reveals genomic regions for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium use efficiency in bread wheat[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(3): 847-863.
[6] Shuwei Zhang, Jiajia Zhao, Haiyan Zhang, Duoduo Fu, Ling Qiao, Bangbang Wu, Xiaohua Li, Yuqiong Hao, Xingwei Zheng, Zhen Liang, Zhijian Chang, Jun Zheng. Structural chromosome variations from Jinmai 47 and Jinmai 84 affected agronomic traits and drought tolerance of wheat[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(3): 864-878.
[7] Lin Wang, Fei Liu, Yumeng Bian, Mudi Sun, Zhensheng Kang, Jie Zhao. Revealing inheritance of a Xinjiang isolate BGTB-1 of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici and the shift of pathogenicity from avirulence to virulence at heterozygous AvrYr5 locus[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2026, 25(2): 744-755.
[8] Tiantian Chen, Lei Li, Dan Liu, Yubing Tian, Lingli Li, Jianqi Zeng, Awais Rasheed, Shuanghe Cao, Xianchun Xia, Zhonghu He, Jindong Liu, Yong Zhang. Genome wide linkage mapping for black point resistance in a recombinant inbred line population of Zhongmai 578 and Jimai 22[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3311-3321.
[9] Dili Lai, Md. Nurul Huda, Yawen Xiao, Tanzim Jahan, Wei Li, Yuqi He, Kaixuan Zhang, Jianping Cheng, Jingjun Ruan, Meiliang Zhou. Evolutionary and expression analysis of sugar transporters from Tartary buckwheat revealed the potential function of FtERD23 in drought stress[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3334-3350.
[10] Zimeng Liang, Juan Li, Jingyi Feng, Zhiyuan Li, Vinay Nangia, Fei Mo, Yang Liu. Brassinosteroids improve the redox state of wheat florets under low-nitrogen stress and alleviate degeneration[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2920-2939.
[11] Qing Li, Zhuangzhuang Sun, Zihan Jing, Xiao Wang, Chuan Zhong, Wenliang Wan, Maguje Masa Malko, Linfeng Xu, Zhaofeng Li, Qin Zhou, Jian Cai, Yingxin Zhong, Mei Huang, Dong Jiang. Time-course transcriptomic information reveals the mechanisms of improved drought tolerance by drought priming in wheat[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2902-2919.
[12] Jinpeng Li, Siqi Wang, Zhongwei Li, Kaiyi Xing, Xuefeng Tao, Zhimin Wang, Yinghua Zhang, Chunsheng Yao, Jincai Li. Effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction on winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in the Huaibei Plain, China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2974-2988.
[13] Baohua Liu, Ganqiong Li, Yongen Zhang, Ling Zhang, Dianjun Lu, Peng Yan, Shanchao Yue, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Qingfeng Meng, Xinping Chen. Optimizing management strategies to enhance wheat productivity in the North China Plain under climate change[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2989-3003.
[14] Ziqiang Che, Shuting Bie, Rongrong Wang, Yilin Ma, Yaoyuan Zhang, Fangfang He, Guiying Jiang. Mild deficit irrigation delays flag leaf senescence and increases yield in drip-irrigated spring wheat by regulating endogenous hormones[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2954-2973.
[15] Xinhu Guo, Jinpeng Chu, Yifan Hua, Yuanjie Dong, Feina Zheng, Mingrong He, Xinglong Dai. Long-term integrated agronomic optimization maximizes soil quality and synergistically improves wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2940-2953.
No Suggested Reading articles found!