A major QTL simultaneously increases the number of spikelets per spike and thousand-kernel weight in a wheat line

Conghao Zhao; Jieguang Zhou; Cong Li; Jianing You; Yanling Liu; Huaping Tang; Mei Deng; Qiang Xu; Yazhou Zhang; Qiantao Jiang; Guoyue Chen; Pengfei Qi; Yunfeng Jiang; Jirui Wang; Wei Li; Zhien Pu; Guangdeng Chen; Yun Jiang; Zhi Zheng; Chunji Liu; Youliang Zheng; Yuming Wei; Jian Ma

doi:10.1007/s00122-023-04459-y

A major QTL simultaneously increases the number of spikelets per spike and thousand-kernel weight in a wheat line

Theor Appl Genet. 2023 Sep 23;136(10):213. doi: 10.1007/s00122-023-04459-y.

Authors

Conghao Zhao^#^{1

2}, Jieguang Zhou^#^{1

2}, Cong Li^{1

2}, Jianing You³, Yanling Liu^{1

2}, Huaping Tang^{1

2}, Mei Deng^{1

2}, Qiang Xu^{1

2}, Yazhou Zhang^{1

2}, Qiantao Jiang^{1

2}, Guoyue Chen^{1

2}, Pengfei Qi^{1

2}, Yunfeng Jiang^{1

2}, Jirui Wang^{1

2}, Wei Li⁴, Zhien Pu⁴, Guangdeng Chen⁵, Yun Jiang⁶, Zhi Zheng⁷, Chunji Liu⁷, Youliang Zheng^{1

2}, Yuming Wei^{8

9}, Jian Ma^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
² Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
³ Industrial Crop Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China.
⁴ College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
⁵ College of Resources, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China.
⁶ Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology Research, Sichuan Academy ofAgricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China.
⁷ CSIRO Agriculture and Food, 306 Carmody Road, Saint Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China. ymwei@sicau.edu.cn.
⁹ Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China. ymwei@sicau.edu.cn.
¹⁰ State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China. jianma@sicau.edu.cn.
¹¹ Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China. jianma@sicau.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37740730
DOI: 10.1007/s00122-023-04459-y

Abstract

A novel and stably expressed QTL QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A for spikelet number per spike in wheat without negative effects on thousand-kernel weight was identified and validated in different genetic backgrounds. Spikelet number per spike (SNS) is an important determinant of yield in wheat. In the present study, we combined bulked segregant analysis (BSA) and the wheat 660 K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to rapidly identify genomic regions associated with SNS from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between the wheat lines S849-8 and SY95-71. A genetic map was constructed using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR markers in the SNP-enriched region on the long arm of chromosome 7A. A major and stably expressed QTL, QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A, was detected in multiple environments. It was located in a 1.6 cM interval on chromosome arm 7AL flanked by the markers AX-109983514 and AX-109820548. This QTL explained 6.86-15.72% of the phenotypic variance, with LOD values ranging from 3.66 to 8.66. Several genes associated with plant growth and development were identified in the interval where QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A was located on the 'Chinese Spring' wheat and wild emmer reference genomes. Furthermore, the effects of QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A and WHEAT ORTHOLOG OFAPO1(WAPO1) on SNS were analyzed. Interestingly, QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A significantly increased SNS without negative effects on thousand-kernel weight, anthesis date and plant height, demonstrating its great potential for breeding aimed at improving grain yield. Taken together, these results indicate that QSNS.sicau-SSY-7A is a promising locus for yield improvement, and its linkage markers are helpful for fine mapping and molecular breeding.

MeSH terms

Alleles
DNA Shuffling
Edible Grain
Plant Breeding*
Triticum* / genetics