Improving grain yield, stress resilience and quality of bread wheat using large-scale genomics

Authors: JULIANA, PHILOMIN - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); POLAND, JESSE - Kansas State University; HUERTA-ESPINO, JULIO - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP); SHRESTHA, SANDESH - Kansas State University; CROSSA, JOSE - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); CRESPO-HERRERA, LEONARDO - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); TOLEDO, FERNANDO - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); GOVINDAN, VELU - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); MONDAL, SUCHISMITHA - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); KUMAR, UTTAM - Punjab Agricultural University; BHAVANI, SRIDHAR - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); SINGH, PAWAN - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); RANDHAWA, MANDEEP - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); HE, XINYAO - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); GUZMAN, CARLOS - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); DREISIGACKER, SUSANNE - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT); Rouse, Matthew; Jin, Yue; PEREZ-RODRIGUEZ, PAULINO - Colegio De Postgraduados; MONTESINOS-LOPEZ, OSVAL - Universidad De Colima; SINGH, DALJIT - Kansas State University; RAHMAN, MOHAMMAD - Kansas State University; MARZA, FELIX - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP); SINGH, RAVI - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Submitted to: Nature Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2019
Publication Date: 9/23/2019
Citation: Juliana, P., Poland, J., Huerta-Espino, J., Shrestha, S., Crossa, J., Crespo-Herrera, L., Toledo, F.H., Govindan, V., Mondal, S., Kumar, U., Bhavani, S., Singh, P.K., Randhawa, M.S., He, X., Guzman, C., Dreisigacker, S., Rouse, M.N., Jin, Y., Perez-Rodriguez, P., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Singh, D., Rahman, M., Marza, F., Singh, R. 2019. Improving grain yield, stress resilience and quality of bread wheat using large-scale genomics. Nature Genetics. 51:1530–1539. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0496-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0496-6

Interpretive Summary: State-of-the-art genomics is critical for accelerating wheat breeding to meet global food-security. Here, we report the genomic predictabilities of 35 key traits and provide strong evidence that genomic selection will be a powerful selection tool for grain quality. We also performed a large genome-wide association study that identified hundreds of significant marker-trait associations for 50 traits including stem rust resistance evaluated in South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Furthermore, we built a powerful genotype-phenotype map, explored allele-frequency dynamics and fingerprinted 44,624 wheat lines for trait-associated markers, generating 7.6 million data-points, that is a phenomenal resource to the wheat community for enhancing productivity and stress-resilience. The study validated several stem rust resistance loci described in other studies. These analyses will inform United States wheat breeders of the potential of genomic selection to improve wheat breeding.

Technical Abstract: State-of-the-art genomics is critical for accelerating wheat breeding to meet global food-security. Here, we report the genomic predictabilities of 35 key traits and provide strong evidence that genomic selection will be a powerful selection tool for grain quality. We also performed a large genome-wide association study that identified hundreds of significant marker-trait associations for 50 traits evaluated in South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Furthermore, we built a powerful genotype-phenotype map, explored allele-frequency dynamics and fingerprinted 44,624 wheat lines for trait-associated markers, generating 7.6 million data-points, that is a phenomenal resource to the wheat community for enhancing productivity and stress-resilience.