Abstract
Leaf size is an important factor contributing to the photosynthetic capability of wheat plants. It also significantly affects various agronomic traits. In particular, the flag leaves contribute significantly to grain yield in wheat. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population developed between varieties with significant differences in flag leaf traits was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) of flag leaf length (FLL) and to evaluate its pleiotropic effects on five yield-related traits, including spike length (SL), spikelet number per spike (SPN), kernel number per spike (KN), kernel length (KL), and thousand-kernel weight (TKW). Two additional RIL populations were used to validate the detected QTL and reveal the relationships in different genetic backgrounds. Using the diversity arrays technology (DArT) genetic linkage map, three major QTL for FLL were detected, with single QTL in different environments explaining 8.6–23.3% of the phenotypic variation. All the QTL were detected in at least four environments, and validated in two related populations based on the designed primers. These QTL and the newly developed primers are expected to be valuable for fine mapping and marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding programs.
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Funding
This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0101004), the outstanding Youth Foundation of the Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province (2016JQ0040), the Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province (2016NZ0057), and the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of the Bureau of Science and Technology of Chengdu China (No. 2015DFA306002015-GH03-00008-HZ).
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YL designed and coordinated this study and revised the manuscript.
YT conducted data analysis and drafted the manuscript.
ZW performed the analysis of genotyping data.
QG, FW, XY, and MD performed the phenotypic evaluation and helped with data analysis.
JM helped to draft the manuscript.
GC performed part of the population genotyping.
YW participated in the design of the study.
YZ coordinated the study and helped to draft the manuscript.
All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Liu, Y., Tao, Y., Wang, Z. et al. Identification of QTL for flag leaf length in common wheat and their pleiotropic effects. Mol Breeding 38, 11 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-017-0766-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-017-0766-x