QTL Mapping of Quality Traits in the RIL Population of "Gao 8901 × Zhoumai 16"

• 1、College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Hebei Agriculture University, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China

Abstract：To identify key loci regulating strong gluten quality traits in wheat, this study utilized a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross between the strong gluten variety Gao8901 and the medium gluten variety Zhoumai 16. Quality indicators including protein content, wet gluten content, and gluten index were measured, followed by QTL mapping analysis. The results revealed: (1) a highly significant positive correlation between protein content and wet gluten content (correlation coefficient: 0.719-0.776), and a highly significant negative correlation between wet gluten content and gluten index (correlation coefficient: -0.588 to -0.525); (2) broad-sense heritability of all traits ranged from 0.86 to 0.93. A total of 56 additive QTLs were identified, with 9 stable QTLs consistently detected across multiple environments located on chromosomes 1B, 1D, and 2D. Notably, a QTL cluster containing three stable loci with additive effect alleles derived from Gao8901 was discovered on chromosome 4D. This study provides critical genetic loci for protein-related quality traits, laying a theoretical foundation for gene mining and genetic improvement of strong gluten characteristics in wheat.

Keywords： Gao8901 Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) population QTL Mapping Gluten Index Protein Content.