QTL mapping for yield and photosynthetic related traits under different water regimes in wheat

The improvement for drought tolerance requires understanding of the genetic control of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) reaction to drought. In this study, a set of 131 recombinant inbred lines of wheat were investigated under well-watered (WW) and drought stress (DS) environments across 2 years to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and physiological traits. A total of 225 QTLs were detected, including 32 non-environment-specific loci that were significant in both DS and WW, one drought-specific locus and two watering-specific loci. Three consistently-expressed QTLs (QTkw-3A.2, QTss-1A, and QScn-7A.1) were identified in at least three environments and the QTkw-1D. 1 was significant in DS across the 2 years. By unconditional and conditional QTL analysis, spike number per plant and kernel number per spike were more important than thousand-kernel weight for grain yield (GY) at the given genetic background. Meta-analysis identified 67 meta-QTLs that contained QTLs for at least two traits. High frequency co-location of QTLs was found among either the spike-related traits or the six physiological traits. Four photosynthesis traits (CHL, LWUE, P-N, and C-i) were co-located with GY and/or yield components on various MQTLs. The results provided QTLs that warrant further study for drought tolerance breeding and are helpful for understanding the genetic basis of drought tolerance and the genetic contribution of yield components to GY at individual QTL level in wheat.