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Identification of genetic factors controlling kernel hardness and related traits in a recombinant inbred population derived from a soft × ‘extra-soft’ wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cross

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Abstract

Kernel hardness or texture, used to classify wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) into soft and hard classes, is a major determinant of milling and baking quality. Wheat genotypes in the soft class that are termed ‘extra-soft’ (with kernel hardness in the lower end of the spectrum) have been associated with superior end-use quality. In order to better understand the relationship between kernel hardness, milling yield, and various agronomic traits, we performed quantitative trait mapping using a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between a common soft wheat line and a genotype classified as an ‘extra-soft’ line. A total of 47 significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) (LOD ≥ 3.0) were identified for nine traits with the number of QTL affecting each trait ranging from three to nine. The percentage of phenotypic variance explained by these QTL ranged from 3.7 to 50.3%. Six QTL associated with kernel hardness and break flour yield were detected on chromosomes 1BS, 4BS, 5BS, 2DS, 4DS, and 5DL. The two most important QTL were mapped onto orthologous regions on chromosomes 4DS (Xbarc1118–Rht-D1) and 4BS (Xwmc617–Rht-B1). These results indicated that the ‘extra-soft’ characteristic was not controlled by the Hardness (Ha) locus on chromosome 5DS. QTL for eight agronomic traits occupied two genomic regions near semi-dwarf genes Rht-D1 on chromosome 4DS and Rht-B1 on chromosome 4BS. The clustering of these QTL is either due to the pleiotropic effects of single genes or tight linkage of genes controlling these various traits.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. C. F. Morris for providing access to the milling facilities at the USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Lab (Pullman, WA). Financial support from the National Research Initiative of the USDA-Coordinate State Research, Education and Extension Service (Coordinate Agricultural Project (CAP) grant number 2006-55606-16629), Oregon State University Agricultural Research Foundation, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Oregon Wheat Commission, is greatly appreciated (All the above grants were awarded to Dr. Oscar Riera-Lizarazu while he was a faculty at Oregon State University).

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  1. Oscar Riera-Lizarazu

    Present address: Dryland Cereals Research Program, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics, Patancheru, 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, 107 Crop Science Building, Corvallis, OR, 97331-3002, USA

    Guomei Wang, Jeffrey M. Leonard, Andrew S. Ross, C. James Peterson & Oscar Riera-Lizarazu

  2. Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Ag Science 319A, Moscow, ID, 83844-2339, USA

    Robert S. Zemetra

  3. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-6420, USA

    Kimberly Garland Campbell

  4. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology and Disease Research Unit, Pullman, WA, 99164-6420, USA

    Kimberly Garland Campbell

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  1. Guomei Wang
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Correspondence to Guomei Wang.

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Communicated by Y. Xu.

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Wang, G., Leonard, J.M., Ross, A.S. et al. Identification of genetic factors controlling kernel hardness and related traits in a recombinant inbred population derived from a soft × ‘extra-soft’ wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cross. Theor Appl Genet 124, 207–221 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-011-1699-0

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