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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Improvement Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #421630
Research Project: Improvement of Disease and Pest Resistance in Barley, Durum, Oat, and Wheat Using Genetics and Genomics

Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research

Title: Understanding the genetic basis of heat stress tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through genome-wide association studies

Author
item GUDI, SANTOSH - North Dakota State University
item SINGH, JATINDER - North Dakota State University
item GILL, HARSIMARDEEP - South Dakota State University
item SEHGAL, SUNISH - South Dakota State University
item Faris, Justin
item UPINDER, GILL - North Dakota State University
item Gupta, Rajeev

Submitted to: The Plant Genome
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/6/2025
Publication Date: 7/10/2025
Citation: Gudi, S., Singh, J., Gill, H., Sehgal, S., Faris, J.D., Upinder, G., Gupta, R. 2025. Understanding the genetic basis of heat stress tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through genome-wide association studies. The Plant Genome. 3(18). Article e70071. https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.70071.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.70071

Interpretive Summary: Wheat is the third most grown food crop of the USA following corn and soybean. However, wheat production is constrained by several biotic and abiotic stresses. Heat stress is the major abiotic stress that negatively impacts wheat growth at various developmental stages. Understanding the genetic basis of heat stress tolerance can help in breeding resilient wheat cultivars with improved productivity. In this study we evaluated a diverse panel of spring wheat landraces and cultivars under heat stress which revealed large phenotypic and genetic variations. Genomic regions and candidate genes identified in this study hold promise for developing heat-resilient wheat cultivars through use of gene-specific molecular markers.

Technical Abstract: Heat stress can reduce the production potential of wheat by affecting the various developmental stages of wheat including the seedling stage. Understanding the genetic basis of heat stress tolerance can help in breeding resilient wheat cultivars with improved productivity. Here, evaluation of a diverse panel of spring wheat landraces and cultivars under non-heat stress (23°C) and heat stress (36°C) treatments in a controlled environment revealed large phenotypic and genetic variations. Heat stress negatively affected all seedling traits with the maximum reduction in root length (85.6%) and the least reduction in coleoptile length (15.44%). Moreover, based on seedling performance we identified six highly heat tolerant (PI 366905, Kzyl Sark, Rang, Perico S, Bohr Gamh, and PI 620689) and six highly heat susceptible (CItr 17470, CItr 13270, Coeruleum, Shashi, Hallany, and Currawa) genotypes. Genome-wide association analysis using 302,524 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified 23 marker-trait associations (MTAs), of which 16 were associated with various seedling traits under heat stress. Gene annotation and expression analysis indicated 35 differentially expressed genes of which, 13 were considered as high-confidence genes with functional relevance to heat stress including protein kinase, basic-leucine zipper, UDP-glucosyltransferase, pyrophosphate-energized proton pump, fatty acid hydroxylase, and other classes of proteins. The MTAs and candidate genes identified in this study hold promise for developing heat-resilient wheat cultivars through the selection of favorable alleles with gene-specific molecular markers.