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QTL mapping of grain protein content in the introgression line BAd7-209 derived from wild emmer

WANG Zhe1,2,**, HU Yan-Ling1,2,**, GONG Fang-Yi1,2, YI Rui1,2, ZHAO Shu-Hong1,2, LIU Rui-Qin1,2, LIU Yu-Hang1,2, ZHANG Tian1,2, ZHANG Ya-Zhou1,2, ZHENG You-Liang1,2, LIU Deng-Cai1,2, HUANG Lin1,2,*,WU Bi-Hua1,2,*   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China; 2 Wheat Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China
  • Received:2025-01-22 Revised:2025-08-13 Accepted:2025-08-13 Published:2025-08-25
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the Sichuan Provincial International Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Project (2021YFH0110) and Key R&D Project of Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2021YFY2002-3-3).

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Abstract:

The introgression line BAd7-209, characterized by a high grain protein content (GPC) despite lacking a functional NAM-B1 gene, has been officially named the wheat cultivar Triticum aestivum L. ‘Chuannong 1 Sicaomai’. It was developed from a cross between wild emmer (as the male parent) and the high-yielding but low-GPC common wheat variety Chuannong 16 (CN16). In this study, BAd7-209 was used as the male parent and crossed with two low-GPC common wheat cultivars, Chuanyu 27 (CY27) and CN16, to develop both a recombinant inbred line (RIL) F6:8 mapping population and an F6 validation population. The objective was to investigate the genetic basis of high GPC in BAd7-209 and to identify genetic resources for high-quality wheat breeding. Across four environments over two consecutive years, BAd7-209 exhibited a mean GPC of 15.35%, significantly higher than that of the female parent CY27 (12.30%). However, its thousand-grain weight (TGW) was 46.08 g—significantly lower than CY27 (50.53 g). The RIL population showed a mean GPC of 14.01% and a TGW of 52.02 g, both significantly higher than those of the parent lines. This indicates that the high GPC from BAd7-209 and the high TGW from CY27 were effectively transferred to the RIL population, minimizing the influence of the concentration effect and enabling more accurate evaluation of GPC. A total of five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with GPC were identified, explaining 9.68% to 29.17% of the phenotypic variation. Notably, a novel major QTL, QGPC.sicau-YZ-6BS, derived from BAd7-209, was consistently associated with high GPC and accounted for 9.68%–29.17% of the variation. A functional KASP marker linked to this QTL was developed. Lines carrying this favorable locus exhibited significantly higher GPC than those without it (p < 0.01) across all tested environments and genetic backgrounds, with GPC increases of 17.89% and 41.20% in the mapping and validation populations, respectively. Additionally, thirteen novel wheat germplasm lines with superior traits—including grain quality, agronomic performance, and disease resistance—were selected from the 104 RILs. Their GPCs ranged from 13.99% to 18.08%, and TGWs ranged from 45.20 to 57.69 g. These findings provide valuable insights for future genetic research and the breeding of high-yield, high-quality wheat cultivars.

Key words: common wheat, wild emmer, introgression line, grain protein content, QTL mapping, high quality and yield, genetic and breeding

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