Identification of Genetic Loci Regulating Bread Making Quality Stability In Wheat In a Halberd x Len Recombinant Inbred Line Population.

Wheat grain quality, which is primarily determined by protein content and gluten characteristics, has a complex genetic architecture heavily influenced by the growing environment. Consistency in wheat quality not only affects the efficiency of milling and baking but also the quality of end-use products. The objectives of this study are to 1) assess and analyze the different wheat quality parameters in Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) grown under different environments and, 2) identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) associated with quality stability for the prominent measures of quality. A set of 182 RILs derived from two spring wheat lines ‘Halberd’ and ‘Len’ were grown in two locations in Texas, Uvalde and College Station, in the 2009/2010 growing season. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications within each location. Each line was tested for multiple quality traits that included, grain hardness, protein content, dough mixing properties and bread baking quality using Single Kernel Characterization System (SKCS), Near-Infrared Reflectance (NIR) analysis, and the mixograph and Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) sedimentation tests, respectively. The result showed transgressive segregation in the RILs in both directions for all measured traits. At 14% moisture basis flour protein content and flour weight were negatively correlated. SDS sedimentation volume was found to have significant positive correlation with mixing tolerance and peak time within location. However, the correlations between two locations were not found to be significant for any trait. This suggests the presence of large genotype by environment interaction effects on the quality traits. In general, the RILs performed better in College Station than Uvalde in terms of quality estimates. Furthermore, the linkage mapping and QTL analysis for all measured quality traits will be reported.