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Title: Genome-wide associations for water-soluble carbohydrate concentration and relative maturity in wheat using SNP and DArT marker arrays

Author
item OVENDEN, BEN - Nsw Department Of Primary Industries
item MILGATE, A - Nsw Department Of Primary Industries
item WADE, L - Charles Sturt University
item REBETZKE, G - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item Holland, Jim - Jim

Submitted to: G3, Genes/Genomes/Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/25/2017
Publication Date: 8/1/2017
Citation: Ovenden, B., Milgate, A., Wade, L.J., Rebetzke, G.J., Holland, J.B. 2017. Genome-wide associations for water-soluble carbohydrate concentration and relative maturity in wheat using SNP and DArT marker arrays. G3, Genes/Genomes/Genetics. 7(8):2821-2830.

Interpretive Summary: We used genome wide association studies in a multi-environment trial wheat data set to identify loci for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation. These loci may be useful for breeding for drought tolerance. These loci do not control relative maturity, which is important because carbohydrate levels vary during crop development. Our results also show that marker type and gene-by-environment interactions are important considerations in association studies.

Technical Abstract: Improving water-use efficiency by incorporating drought avoidance traits into new wheat varieties is an important objective for wheat breeding in water-limited environments. This study uses genome wide association studies (GWAS) to identify candidate loci for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation, an important drought-avoidance characteristic in wheat. Phenotypes from a multi-environment trial with experiments differing in water availability and separate SNP and DArT marker sets were used to perform the analyses. The SNP and DArT marker sets performed very differently, with no loci for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation identified using the SNP marker set, and only one relative maturity association identified using the DArT marker set. Significant associations for water-soluble carbohydrate accumulation were identified on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 1D, 2D and 4A in the DArT marker set. Notably, these loci did not collocate with the major loci identified for relative maturity. Loci on chromosome 1D collocated with markers previously associated with the high molecular weight glutenin Glu-D1 locus. Genetic × environmental interactions impacted the results strongly, with significant associations for carbohydrate accumulation only identified in the water-deficit experiments. The markers associated with carbohydrate accumulation may be useful for marker assisted selection of drought tolerance in wheat.