QTL Detection for Bread Making Quality and Agronomic Traits in a Winter Wheat Mapping Population.

Bread making quality and yield performance are both critically important for U.S. hard winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). This study was conducted to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) that influence quality and agronomic traits in a doubled haploid population derived from the cross of CO940610 and ‘Platte’. Replicated field trials of 185 DH lines were grown in Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado in 2008 and 2009, respectively, under moderate moisture stress and fully irrigated conditions. Quality traits were evaluated with a 10-g Mixograph, single kernel characterization system, and near infrared spectroscopy. We constructed maps of 31 linkage groups containing 221 simple sequence repeat (SSR), diversity array technology (DArT), and protein markers and spanning 2,082 cM. The composite interval mapping option of QTL Cartographer software was used in a genome-wide scan to detect and characterize QTL. Regions on chromosomes 1A, 2B, 3D, 7B, and 7D contained QTL for multiple traits. The 7DS region contained QTL for phenological traits, plant height, above ground biomass, spike length, and kernel hardness, which is consistent with previous studies and may be due to pleiotropic effects of the vernalization gene Vrn-D3. Genomic regions on chromosomes 1AL, 1BL, 1DL, and 7BS contained QTL for multiple bread making quality traits. The 1AL, 1BL, and 1DL QTL most likely indicate the effects of the Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1 high molecular weight glutenin loci. The 7BS QTL region may reflect a novel quality locus or loci. Validation of these QTL is currently underway through evaluation of a recombinant inbred line population derived from the same parents.