Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Grain Metal Accumulation in Wheat

Abstract

Increasing wheat grain yield while ignoring grain quality and metal accumulation can result in metal deficiencies, particularly in countries where bread wheat accounts for the majority of daily dietary regimes. When the accumulation level exceeds a certain threshold, it becomes toxic and causes various diseases. Biofortification is an effective method of ensuring nutritional security. We screened 200 spring wheat advanced lines from the wheat association mapping initiative for Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cd concentrations. Interestingly, high-yielding genotypes had high essential metals, such as Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn, but low levels of toxic metals, such as Ni and Cd. Positive correlations were found between all metals except Ni and Cd, where no correlation was found. We identified 142 significant SNPs, 26 of which had possible pleiotropic effects on two or more metals. Several QTLs co-located with previously mapped QTL for the same or other metals, whereas others were new. Our findings contribute to wheat genetic biofortification through marker-assisted selection, ensuring nutritional security in the long run.

Identification of genomic regions of wheat associated with grain Fe and Zn content under drought and heat stress using genome-wide association study

“…The GWAS has the advantages of increased QTL resolution, allele coverage, and the capacity to employ huge collections of readily available materials such as natural populations or advanced breeding lines. The GWAS has been used to show the genomic regions of grain iron and zinc content in many studies (Alomari et al, 2018;Bhatta et al, 2018;Velu et al, 2018;El-Soda and Aljabri, 2022;Krishnappa et al, 2022;Rathan et al, 2022). However, grain Zn and Fe content under drought and heat stress is not being explored much.…”

Genetic Characterization of Spring Wheat Germplasm for Macro-, Microelements and Trace Metals

“…Wheat biofortification by Iron and Zinc has been recently reviewed by Wani et al [33], and Kamaral et al [34] summarizing the results and perspectives for the future. There are numerous recent GWAS studies on macro-, micro-, and trace elements by Rathan et al [35], Wang et al [29], Hao et al [36], Alomari et al [37], and El-Soda and Aljabri [38]. The present study contributes knowledge on the genetic control of 11 elements using a diverse set of germplasm phenotyped in Siberia.…”

“…The maximum concentrations of As, Cd, mercury (Hg), and Pb did not exceed concentrations specified by EU, FAO, and Kazakh standards. In western Siberia, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn varied over ranges of 44,38,3, and 36 µg/g, respectively [10]. Studies on heavy metal concentrations in wheat grain in Russia were focused on individual regions like Krasnoyarsk [11], and Chelyabinsk [12] and did not identify values exceeding maximum permitted concentrations.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Genetics Studies on Wheat”

“…Positive correlations were found between all metals except Ni and Cd. Of a total 142 significant SNPs, 26 showed possible pleiotropic effects on 2 or more metals [ 10 ]. GWAS was also used to identify the association loci associated with the grain hardness index.…”