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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Improvement Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #415662
Research Project: Improvement of Disease and Pest Resistance in Barley, Durum, Oat, and Wheat Using Genetics and Genomics

Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research

Title: Association analysis identified candidate genomic regions for heat stress tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Author
item GUDI, SANTOSH - North Dakota State University
item SINGH, JATINDER - North Dakota State University
item GILL, HARSIMARDEEP - South Dakota State University
item SEHGAL, SUNISH - South Dakota State University
item UPINDER, GILL - North Dakota State University
item Gupta, Rajeev

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/2024
Publication Date: 6/22/2024
Citation: Gudi, S., Singh, J., Gill, H., Sehgal, S., Upinder, G., Gupta, R. 2024. Association analysis identified candidate genomic regions for heat stress tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Biology Conference. Poster No. 100-71.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Heat stress is the major abiotic stress affecting growth, development, and production potential of wheat cultivars across the globe. Understanding the genetic architecture of heat stress tolerance and breeding resilient wheat cultivars helps in preventing yield losses caused by frequent heat waves. To unravel the genetic basis of heat stress tolerance, we evaluated the seedlings of large hexaploid spring wheat collection comprising landraces, cultivars, and advanced lines originated from the major wheat growing areas such as the Asia, Europe, America, and Africa under control (23°C) and heat stress (36°C). Heat stress significantly reduced seedling traits (except root number; RN) with the maximum effect on root length (RL) (85.6%) and the minimum effect on coleoptile length (CL) (15.44%). Multi-locus GWAS using 302,524 filtered SNPs obtained from exome sequencing identified 7 QTLs associated with shoot length (SL), RN, and root fresh weight (RFW) under control and 16 QTLs associated with shoot fresh weight (SFW), RL, and RFW under heat stress. Candidate gene (CG) analysis from 16 QTLs associated with heat stress identified 251 unique gene models, of which 35 genes were differentially expressed (DEGs). Furthermore, the gene ontology and functional characterization of DEGs revealed that at least 13 CGs have functional relevance to heat stress tolerance. These genes mainly encode for the protein kinase domain, UDP-glucosyltransferase, pectinacetylesterase, pyrophosphate-energized proton pump, etc. QTLs and CGs identified in this study can be employed in marker-assisted selection to transfer potential genomic regions associated with enhanced heat stress tolerance to develop heat resilient, high-yielding wheat cultivars.