Genome-wide association mapping for yield and related traits under drought stressed and non-stressed environments in wheat

Authors: AL RABBI, HISAM - North Dakota State University; KUMAR, AJAY - North Dakota State University; NARAGHI, SEPEHR - North Dakota State University; SIMSEK, SENAY - North Dakota State University; SAPKOTA, SURAJ - University Of Georgia; SOLANKI, SHYAM - Washington State University; ALAMRI, MOHAMMED - King Saud University; ELIAS, ELIAS - North Dakota State University; Kianian, Shahryar; MISSAOUI, ALI - University Of Georgia; MERGOUM, MOHAMED - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Frontiers in Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2021
Publication Date: 6/22/2021
Citation: Al Rabbi, H.S., Kumar, A., Naraghi, S.M., Simsek, S., Sapkota, S., Solanki, S., Alamri, M.S., Elias, E.M., Kianian, S.F., Missaoui, A., Mergoum, M. 2021. Genome-wide association mapping for yield and related traits under drought stressed and non-stressed environments in wheat. Frontiers in Genetics. 12. Article: 649988. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.649988.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.649988

Interpretive Summary: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major crop worldwide contributing about 20% of calories to the human population. Current genetic and genomic improvement in wheat have helped increase its production; however, further improvements are essential to increase wheat productivity to feed the world’s population. Wheat production is often reduced by several biotic and abiotic stresses including drought and heat. Understanding the genetics of drought tolerance in hard red spring wheat (HRSW) in the northern USA is a prerequisite for developing drought-tolerant cultivars for this region. A study for drought tolerance in spring wheat in the northern USA was undertaken using 361 wheat genotypes and a 90K Single Nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) molecular marker platform. The genotypes were evaluated in different 9 locations of North Dakota (ND) for plant height (PH), days to heading (DH), yield (YLD), test weight (TW), and thousand kernel weight (TKW) under rain-fed conditions. A total of 69 consistent QTL involved with drought tolerance related traits were identified, with p = 0.001. The chromosomes 1A, 3A, 3B, 4B, 4D, 5B, 6A, and 6B were identified to harbor major QTL for drought tolerance. Six potential novel QTL were identified on chromosomes 3D, 4A, 5B, 7A, and 7B. The findings of this study can be used in marker-assisted selection for drought-tolerance breeding in spring wheat.

Technical Abstract: Understanding the genetics of drought tolerance in hard red spring wheat (HRSW) in the northern USA is a prerequisite for developing drought-tolerant cultivars for this region. An association mapping (AM) study for drought tolerance in spring wheat in the northern USA was undertaken using 361 wheat genotypes and Infinium 90K Single Nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay. The genotypes were evaluated in different 9 locations of North Dakota (ND) for plant height (PH), days to heading (DH), yield (YLD), test weight (TW), and thousand kernel weight (TKW) under rain-fed conditions. Rainfall data for the experimental sites were collected from the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) website to assess drought conditions. The genotyping of AM panel using Illumina’s Infinium 90K SNP assay resulted a total of 14,816 polymorphic markers which were used for the marker-trait association, employing a mixed linear model (MLM) with (PC+K). A total of 69 consistent QTL involved with drought tolerance related traits were identified, with p = 0.001. The chromosomes 1A, 3A, 3B, 4B, 4D, 5B, 6A, and 6B were identified to harbor major QTL for drought tolerance. Six potential novel QTL were identified on chromosomes 3D, 4A, 5B, 7A, and 7B. The findings of this study can be used in marker-assisted selection (MAS) for drought-tolerance breeding in spring wheat.