Fine mapping KT1 on wheat chromosome 5A that conditions kernel dimensions and grain weight.

KEY MESSAGE: KT1 was validated as a novel thickness QTL with major effects on wheat kernel dimensions and weight and fine mapped to a 0.04 cM interval near the chromosome-5A centromere. Kernel size, the principal grain weight determining factor of wheat and a target trait for both domestication and artificial breeding, is mainly defined by kernel length (KL), kernel width (KW) and kernel thickness (KT), of which KW and KT have been shown to be positively related to grain weight (GW). Qkt.nau-5A, a major QTL for KT, was validated using the QTL near-isogenic lines (NILs) in three genetic backgrounds. Genetic analysis using two F2 populations derived from the NILs showed that Qkt.nau-5A was dominant for thicker kernel and inherited like a single gene and therefore was designated as Kernel Thickness 1 (KT1). With 77 recombinant lines identified from a total of 19,160 F2 plants from the two NIL-derived F2 populations, KT1 was mapped to the 0.04 cM Xwgrb1356-Xwgrb1619 interval, which was near the centromere and displayed strong recombination suppression. The KT1 interval showed positive correlation with KW and GW and negative correlation with KL and therefore could be used in breeding for cultivars with round-shaped kernels that are beneficial to higher flour yield. KT1 candidate identification could be achieved through combination of sequence variation analysis with expression profiling of the annotated genes in the interval.

Genetic Dissection of Adult Plant Resistance to Sharp Eyespot Using an Updated Genetic Map of Niavt14 × Xuzhou25 Winter Wheat Recombinant Inbred Line Population.

Wheat sharp eyespot, a disease mainly caused by soilborne fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis, is a threat to world wheat production. Wheat's genetic resistance to sharp eyespot is a potential approach to reducing the application of fungicides and farming practice inputs. To identify the genetic basis of sharp eyespot resistance in Niavt14, a recombinant inbred line population comprising 215 F8 lines from Niavt14 × Xuzhou25, was developed. An earlier linkage map (148 simple sequence repeat markers) was updated with 5,792 polymorphic Affymetrix Axiom 55K single-nucleotide polymorphisms to a new map of 5,684.2 centimorgans with 1,406 nonredundant markers. The new linkage map covered all 21 chromosomes of common wheat and showed a good collinearity with the IWGSC RefSeq v1.0 genome. We conducted quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for sharp eyespot resistance using the adult plant response data from the field of five consecutive growing seasons and one greenhouse test. Two stable QTL on chromosomes 2B and 7D that were identified in the previous study were confirmed, and three novel, stable QTL, explaining 4.0 to 17.5% phenotypic variation, were mapped on 1D, 6D, and 7A, which were independent of QTL for phenology and plant height. The QTL on 1D, 2B, 6D, and 7A showed low frequencies in 384 landraces (0 to 10%) and 269 elite cultivars (5 to 23%) from the southern winter wheat region and the Yellow and Huai River Valley facultative wheat region in China, respectively. These identified QTL could be used in wheat breeding programs for improving sharp eyespot resistance through marker-assisted selection.

HL2 on chromosome 7D of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) regulates both head length and spikelet number.

KEY MESSAGE: A major QTL QSpl.nau-7D, named HL2, was validated for its effects on head length and kernel number per spike using NIL, and mapped to a 0.2 cM interval using recombinants. Improvement in wheat inflorescence traits such as spike or head length and spikelet number provides an important avenue to increase grain yield potential. In a previous study, QSpl.nau-7D, the major QTL for head length on chromosome 7D, was identified in the recombinant inbred lines derived from Nanda2419 and Wangshuibai. To validate and precisely map this QTL, the Wangshuibai allele was transferred to elite cultivar Yangmai15 through marker-assisted selection. Compared with the recurrent parent, the resultant near-isogenic line (NIL) yielded not only 28% longer spikes on the average but also more spikelets and kernels per spike. Moreover, the NIL had a lower spikelet density and did not show significant kernel weight change. In the F2 population derived from the NIL, QSpl.nau-7D acted like a single semi-dominant gene controlling head length and was therefore designated as Head Length 2 (HL2). With this population, a high-density genetic map was constructed mainly using newly developed markers, and 100 homozygous recombinants including 17 genotypes were obtained. Field experiments showed that the recombinants carrying the 0.2-cM interval flanked by Xwgrb1588 and Xwgrb1902 from Wangshuibai produced longer spikes than those without this Wangshuibai allele. Comparative mapping of this interval revealed a conserved synteny among cereal grasses. HL2 is beneficial to wheat breeding for more kernels per spike at a lower spikelet density, which is a favored morphological trait for Fusarium head blight resistance.