Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Genet.
Sec. Genomics of Plants and the Phytoecosystem
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1384220

Assessment of genetic structure and trait associations of Watkins wheat landraces under Egyptian field conditions

Provisionally accepted
Ahmed F. Elkot Ahmed F. Elkot 1*Ahmed E. Nassar Ahmed E. Nassar 2Brande B. Wulff Brande B. Wulff 3,4,5Elsayed L. Elmassry Elsayed L. Elmassry 1Macarena Forner-Martínez Macarena Forner-Martínez 3Rajani Awal Rajani Awal 3Luzie U. Wingen Luzie U. Wingen 3Simon Griffiths Simon Griffiths 3Alsamman M. Alsamman Alsamman M. Alsamman 2*Zakaria Kehel Zakaria Kehel 6*
  • 1 Field Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center (Egypt), Giza, Beni Suef, Egypt
  • 2 International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) Egypt, Giza, Cairo, Egypt
  • 3 John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom., Norwich, United Kingdom
  • 4 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Center for Desert Agriculture, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat, Morocco

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Wheat landraces represent a reservoir of genetic diversity that can support wheat improvement through breeding. A core panel of 300 Watkins wheat landraces, as well as 16 non-Watkins landraces and elite wheat cultivars, was grown during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons at four Agricultural Research Stations in Egypt, Gemmiza, Nubaria, Sakha, and Sids, to evaluate the core panel for agromorphological and yield-related traits. The genetic population structure within these genotypes were assessed using 35,143 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).Cluster analyses using Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) and k-means revealed three clusters with moderate genetic differentiation and population structure, possibly due to wheat breeding systems and geographical isolation. The best ancestry was k = 4, but k = 2 and k = 3 were also significant. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified clustered marker trait associations (MTAs) linked to thousand kernel weight on chromosome 5A, plant height on chromosomes 3B and 1D, days to heading on chromosomes 2A, 4B, 5B and 1D, and plant maturity on chromosomes 3A, 2B, and 6B. In the future, these MTAs can be used to accelerate the incorporation of beneficial alleles into locally adapted germplasm through marker-assisted selection. Gene enrichment analysis identified key genes within these loci, including Reduced height-1 (Rht-A1) and stress-related genes. These findings underscore significant genetic connections and the involvement of crucial biological pathways.

    Keywords: wheat, GWAS -genome-wide association study , Watkins, Marker trait associations, population structure, Agromorphological traits

    Received: 08 Feb 2024; Accepted: 09 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Elkot, E. Nassar, Wulff, Elmassry, Forner-Martínez, Awal, Wingen, Griffiths, Alsamman and Kehel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ahmed F. Elkot, Field Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center (Egypt), Giza, Beni Suef, Egypt
    Alsamman M. Alsamman, International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) Egypt, Giza, Cairo, Egypt
    Zakaria Kehel, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat, Morocco

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.