AUTHOR=Zhai Huijie , Feng Zhiyu , Li Jiang , Liu Xinye , Xiao Shihe , Ni Zhongfu , Sun Qixin 

TITLE=QTL Analysis of Spike Morphological Traits and Plant Height in Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Using a High-Density SNP and SSR-Based Linkage Map

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01617

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.01617

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Wheat yield can be enhanced by modifying the spike morphology and the plant height. In this study, a population of 191 F<sub>9</sub> recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed from a cross between two winter cultivars Yumai 8679 and Jing 411. A dense genetic linkage map with 10,816 markers was constructed by incorporating single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker information. Five spike morphological traits and plant height were evaluated under nine environments for the RILs and parental lines, and the number of detected environmentally stable QTLs were 18 and three, respectively. The 1RS/1BL (rye) translocation increased both spike length and spikelet number with constant spikelet compactness. The <italic>QPht.cau-2D.1</italic> was identical to gene <italic>Rht8</italic>, which decreased spike length without modifying spikelet number. Notably, four novel QTLs locating on chromosomes 1AS (<italic>QSc.cau-1A.1</italic>), 2DS (<italic>QSc.cau-2D.1</italic>), and 7BS (<italic>QSl.cau-7B.1</italic> and <italic>QSl.cau-7B.2</italic>) were firstly identified in this study, which provide further insights into the genetic factors that shaped the spike morphology in wheat. Moreover, SNP markers tightly linked to previously reported QTLs will eventually facilitate future studies including their positional cloning or marker-assisted selection.</p>