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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #356930
Research Project: Management of Priority Legume, Oilseed, Vegetable, Forage Grass, Sugar, Ornamental, and Medicinal Plant Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research

Title: Quantitative trait loci for cold tolerance in chickpea

Author
item MUGABE, DEUS - Washington State University
item Coyne, Clarice - Clare
item PIAKOWSKI, JULIA - University Of Idaho
item ZHENG, PING - Washington State University
item MA, YU - Washington State University
item McGee, Rebecca
item MAIN, DOREEN - Washington State University
item Vandemark, George
item ZHANG, HONGBIN - Texas A&M University
item ABBO, SHAHAL - Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/2018
Publication Date: 11/17/2018
Citation: Mugabe, D., Coyne, C.J., Piakowski, J., Zheng, P., Ma, Y., McGee, R.J., Main, D., Vandemark, G.J., Zhang, H., Abbo, S. 2018. Quantitative trait loci for cold tolerance in chickpea. Crop Science. 59(2):573–582. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2018.08.0504.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2018.08.0504

Interpretive Summary: As a legume, chickpea (Cicer arietinam L) is an integral part of cereal-based cropping systems worldwide as they significantly contribute to agricultural sustainability by fixing atmospheric N, breaking disease cycles, improving the cereals grain and protein yields, and providing diet diversification. As a spring-planted crop, the short growing season of chickpea limits its grain yield and leaves very little crop residues to combat soil erosion and contribute to soil organic matter. The development of a fall-planted, winter chickpea could improve yields by increasing the length of the growing season, help escape late season drought, and provide additional protection from cool temperatures during seed set in the early spring. Chickpea lack winter hardiness due to genetic bottlenecks and subsequent loss of critical alleles during its development in evolutionary history. However, alleles (forms of genes) for winter hardiness and a vernalization requirement still exist and are prevalent in chickpea’s wild progenitor, Cicer reticulatum. We develped gene region markers that identified the important regions for winter hardiness in chickpea.

Technical Abstract: Fall planted chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) yields are often double that of spring sown chickpea in regions with Mediterranean climates that have mild winters. However, winter kill can limit the productivity of fall-sown chickpea. Developing cold tolerant chickpea would allow expansion of the current geographic range where chickpea is grown, and also improve productivity. The objective of this study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with cold tolerance in chickpea. An interspecific recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 129 lines derived from a cross between ICC 4958, a cold sensitive desi type (C. arietinum) and PI 489777, a cold tolerant wild relative (C. reticulatum) was used for this study. The population was phenotyped in field for four years and twice in controlled conditions. The population was also genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). Three significant QTL were found on linkage groups (LG) 1B, 3 and 8. QTL on LG 3 and 8 were consistent in six environments with LOD score ranges of 5.16 – 15.11 and 5.68 – 23.96 respectively. QTL CT Ca-3.1 explained 7.17 – 34.6% of the variance across all environments, while QTL CT Ca-8.1 explained 11.5 – 48.4% phenotypic variance in all environments. The QTL associated SNP markers may have potential for breeding increased cold tolerance into cultivated chickpea.