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Genome-wide association analysis of drought resistance traits in wheat seedlings introduced from ICARDA

I Yun-Xiang1,3, GUO Qian-Qian1,2, HOU Wan-Wei1,3,4,ZHANG Xiao-Juan1,2,*   

  1. 1 Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China;2 College of Eco-Environmental Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China; 3 Qinghai Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China; 4 National Crop Germplasm Resources Duplicate, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China
  • Received:2025-02-19 Revised:2025-06-01 Accepted:2025-06-01 Published:2025-06-10
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by the Kunlun Talents, High-end Innovative Talents, and Cultivation of Top-notch Talents (Thousand Talents Program) Project of Qinghai Province.

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Abstract:

Wheat is one of the most important staple crops globally, and drought stress can severely impact its growth and development. Therefore, understanding the genetic basis of drought tolerance in wheat and identifying superior drought-resistance-related genes is of great importance for ensuring national food security. In this study, 159 wheat accessions introduced from ICARDA were used as experimental materials. A 20% PEG-6000 solution was applied to simulate drought conditions at the seedling stage in hydroponic experiments. Phenotypic data were collected for five root traits—total root length, root surface area, root volume, average root diameter, and root fork number. Correlation analysis was conducted, and drought tolerance coefficients for the five traits were calculated using data obtained from a 55K SNP chip. The results revealed substantial phenotypic variation in root traits under both control and drought conditions. Under normal conditions, the coefficients of variation ranged from 27.1% to 40.46%, while under drought stress they ranged from 24.95% to 57.04%. Correlation analysis of the drought tolerance coefficients showed no significant relationship between the coefficient for average root diameter and those for root surface area and root fork number. However, a significant negative correlation was observed between average root diameter and total root length, while the other traits exhibited significant positive correlations with each other. Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) identified a total of 39 SNP loci significantly associated with root traits at the P ≤ 0.001 level. These loci were distributed across 16 chromosomes (1B, 1D, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6D, 7A, 7B, and 7D), with explained phenotypic variation ranging from 7.12% to 14.44%. Six pleiotropic loci were identified, all significantly associated with both root surface area and total root length, and located on chromosomes 3B and 4A, with contribution rates ranging from 7.15% to 14.44%. Based on these 39 significant loci, candidate gene prediction identified 12 genes potentially related to drought tolerance in wheat. Among them, TraesCS5B01G556300 (MYB transcription factor 60), TraesCS7A01G508700 (WRKY transcription factor WRKY28), TraesCS2B01G002700 (dehydration-responsive element-binding protein 1C), and TraesCS3D01G055500 (14-3-3-like protein) are likely to play important roles in regulating drought tolerance in wheat.

Key words: wheat, roots, drought resistance, 55K SNP, genome-wide association analysis

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