Abstract
Based on the large-scale integration of meta-QTL and Genome-WideAssociation Study, 76 high-confidence MQTL regions and 237 candidate genes that affected wheat yield and yield-related traits were discovered. Improving yield and yield-related traits are key goals in wheat breeding program. The integration of accumulated wheat genetic resources provides an opportunity to uncover important genomic regions and candidate genes that affect wheat yield. Here, a comprehensive meta-QTL analysis was conducted on 2230 QTL of yield-related traits obtained from 119 QTL studies. These QTL were refined into 145 meta-QTL (MQTL), and 89 MQTL were verified by GWAS with different natural populations. The average confidence interval (CI) of these MQTL was 2.92 times less than that of the initial QTL. Furthermore, 76 core MQTL regions with a physical distance less than 25Mb were detected. Based on the homology analysis and expression patterns, 237 candidate genes in the MQTL involved in photoperiod response, grain development, multiple plant growth regulator pathways, carbon and nitrogen metabolism and spike and flower organ development were determined. A novel candidate gene TaKAO-4A was confirmed to be significantly associated with grain size, and a CAPS marker was developed based on its dominant haplotype. In summary, this study clarified a method based on the integration of meta-QTL, GWAS and homology comparison to reveal the genomic regions and candidate genes that affect important yield-related traits in wheat. This work will help to lay a foundation for the identification, transfer and aggregation of these important QTL or candidate genes in wheat high-yield breeding.
Highlights
Wheat is the most important food crops in the world besides to rice and maize, and is the largest crop in global trade volume (Borrill et al 2015)
Characteristics of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and MQTL associated with wheat yield
Much more initial QTLs than previous studies were used for Meta-QTL analysis to ensure more comprehensive and accurate anchoring of genetic loci (Zhang et al 2010; Quraishi et al 2017; Liu et al 2020)
Summary
Wheat is the most important food crops in the world besides to rice and maize, and is the largest crop in global trade volume (Borrill et al 2015). It provides rich protein, dietary fiber and energy for human beings (Ling et al 2013). Wheat yield is a complex quantitative trait, which is controlled by many low effect genes. Wheat breeders have developed a large number of genetic and gene resources in the past few decades, due to the lack of integration of existing genetic resources related to yield-related traits, it is difficult to effectively transfer these genetic information into wheat breeding programs to improve wheat yield (Quraishi et al 2017)
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