In order to identify genome regions related to pasta-making quality traits, association mapping (AM) was performed in a set of 165 durum wheat landraces from 21 Mediterranean countries. The collection was genotyped using 1149 DArT markers and 872 of them with a known genetic position were used for AM. The collection was grown in north-east Spain during 3 years. Results of ANOVA showed that trait variation for quality traits, except for grain protein content (GPC), was mainly explained by genetic effects. Landraces showed higher GPC than modern cultivars but lower gluten strength (GS). Modern and eastern landraces showed the highest yellow color index (YI). Balkan landraces showed the lowest test weight (TW). A total of 92 marker-trait associations were detected, 20 corresponding to GS, 21 to GPC, 21 to YI and 30 to TW. With the aim of detecting new genomic regions involved in grain quality, the position of the associations was compared with previously mapped QTL by a meta-QTL analysis. A total of 249 QTLs were projected onto the same map used for AM, identifying 45 meta-QTL (MQTL) regions and the remaining 15 QTLs as singletons. The position of known genes involved in grain quality was also included, and gene annotation within the most significant regions detected by AM was carried out using the wheat genome sequence.
Keywords: association mapping; gluten strength; grain quality; protein content; sedimentation index; test weight; yellow color.