Epistatic QTLsPlay a Major Role in Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Its Component Traits in Indian Spring Wheat

Rumesh Ranjan, Rajbir Yadav, Neelu Jain, Nivedita Sinha, Naresh Kumar Bainsla, Kiran B. Gaikwad and Manjeet Kumar
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Rumesh Ranjan: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Rajbir Yadav: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Neelu Jain: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Nivedita Sinha: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Naresh Kumar Bainsla: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Kiran B. Gaikwad: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Manjeet Kumar: Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat may significantly reduce the excessive use of N fertilizers. However, being a quantitative trait, understanding its genetic basis is required for efficient wheat breeding. The present study was carried out to dissect the complex trait through the mapping of quantitative trait locus (QTLs) related to NUE component traits in Indian wheat. A linkage map was constructed using F 2 population derived from two parents contrasting for nitrogen-responsive traits using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Phenotyping for root dry weight, N uptake and utilization were carried out under a high nitrogen environment. Twenty-seven main effect QTLs for eight traits and 26 interaction QTLs for three traits were detected. The main effect QTLs explained a significant amount of phenotypic variance up to the extent of 11.18%. The QTLs were also found to have significant epistatic interactions governed by both additive and non-additive gene action. In particular, chromosome 2A harbours QTLs for many traits viz. SDW, RDW, TDW, R:S, %N, NUtE, and NUpE, including epistasis and interaction QTLs that were flanked by markers X wmc 728-X wmc 473 and X wmc 779-X gwm 249. Taken together, the genomic regions on 2A, 4A, and 7A were found to contain QTLs for a majority of the studied NUE traits that can be potentially exploited in future wheat breeding programmes.

Keywords: QTL mapping; epistasis; root dry weight; nitrogen use efficiency; wheat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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