Wheat frost tolerant genes derived from QTLs of six DH populations in
reproductive stage
Abstract
Reproductive stage frost poses a major constraint for wheat production
in countries such as Australia. However, little progress has been made
in identifying key genes to overcome the constraint. In the present
study, a severe frost event hit two large-scale field trials consisting
of six doubled haploid (DH) wheat populations in reproductive stage
(young microspore stage) in Western Australia, leading to the
identification of 30 robust frost QTL. Results showed that frost damage
is associated with dominant alleles of VrnA1a, VrnD1a, Rht-B1b, Rht-D1b,
and the copy number of Ppd-B1. No frost QTL was detected on chromosomes
5B and 1B, although anthesis QTL and anthesis related genes of VrnB1a
and TaFT3_1B were co-detected, indicating that these early-flowering
phenotype inducing genes are compatible with frost tolerance and thus
can be utilised in breeding. Our results also indicate that wild-type or
recessive alleles Rht-B1a (rht1) and Rht-D1a (rht2) can be used when
breeding for frost-tolerant varieties without delaying flowering time.