Chromosomal locations and genetic relationships of tiller and spike characters in wheat

Number of tillers per plant, plant growth habit in seedling and adult stages, and spike and spikelet characters are agronomically important features of the gross morphology of wheat. To localize to wheat chromosomes the genes for these traits, we scored them in a set of wheat recombinant-inbred mapping lines already well genotyped with molecular markers. Quantitative-trait analysis revealed a region near Gli-A2 ( Xpsr10) on the short arm of chromosome 6A strongly affecting tiller number and the correlated trait of seedling growth habit. Genes with opposing effects on adult plant type were localized on the short arms of chromosomes 2A and 3A, while genes affecting spike development were assigned to several A- and B-genome chromosomes. None of these genes showed synteny with counterpart QTLs reported to affect the same traits in rice. In the chromosome 2D region containing the photoperiod-insensitivity gene Ppd-D1, the major determinant of heading date in these autumn-sown lines, earliness alleles reduced tiller and spikelet numbers and increased erect seedling growth habit, but showed no influence on adult plant type or spike length. Though several of these morphological traits are generally considered to be associated with winter hardiness and their phenotypic intercorrelations were consistent with the genetic mapping evidence, no association was found between newly identified loci and known vernalization-response or frost-resistance loci.