Abstract
Malnutrition of iron (Fe) affects two billion people worldwide. Therefore, enhancing grain Fe concentration (GFeC) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important goal for breeding. Here we study the genetic factors underlying GFeC trait by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the prediction abilities using genomic prediction (GP) in a panel of 369 European elite wheat varieties which was genotyped with 15,523 mapped single-nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNP) and a subpanel of 183 genotypes with 44,233 SNP markers. The resulting means of GFeC from three field experiments ranged from 24.42 to 52.42 μg·g−1 with a broad-sense heritability (H2) equaling 0.59 over the years. GWAS revealed 41 and 137 significant SNPs in the whole and subpanel, respectively, including significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) for best linear unbiased estimates (BLUEs) of GFeC on chromosomes 2A, 3B and 5A. Putative candidate genes such as NAC transcription factors and transmembrane proteins were present on chromosome 2A (763,689,738–765,710,113 bp). The GP for a GFeC trait ranged from low to moderate values. The current study reported GWAS of GFeC for the first time in hexaploid wheat varieties. These findings confirm the utility of GWAS and GP to explore the genetic architecture of GFeC for breeding programs aiming at the improvement of wheat grain quality.
Highlights
Wheat is the second most produced and consumed food crop worldwide and its products form a fundamental diet in the daily life for people in the whole world (FAOSTAT 2016; http://faostat.fao. org)
We study the genetic factors underlying grain Fe concentration (GFeC) trait by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the prediction abilities using genomic prediction (GP) in a panel of 369 European elite wheat varieties which was genotyped with 15,523 mapped single-nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNP) and a subpanel of 183 genotypes with 44,233 SNP markers
These findings confirm the utility of GWAS and GP to explore the genetic architecture of GFeC for breeding programs aiming at the improvement of wheat grain quality
Summary
Wheat is the second most produced and consumed food crop worldwide and its products form a fundamental diet in the daily life for people in the whole world (FAOSTAT 2016; http://faostat.fao. org). Wheat is the second most produced and consumed food crop worldwide and its products form a fundamental diet in the daily life for people in the whole world More than 2 billion people are affected with Fe deficiency which has an adverse effect on health, such as retarding the physical growth and affecting the motoric development, leading to fatigue and low productivity [5,6]. In regions where the people depend mostly on cereal-based foods, deficiencies in micronutrients become a challenge. On the other side, improving Fe concentrations in the edible part of crops are linked with positive consequences on both grain yield and nutritional status as well as a positive effect on human health [7]
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