Increasing the Grain Yield and Grain Protein Content of Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum) by Introducing Missense Mutations in the Q Gene

Abstract

Grain yield (GY) and grain protein content (GPC) are important traits for wheat breeding and production; however, they are usually negatively correlated. The Q gene is the most important domestication gene in cultivated wheat because it influences many traits, including GY and GPC. Allelic variations in the Q gene may positively affect both GY and GPC. Accordingly, we characterized two new Q alleles (Qs1 and Qc1-N8) obtained through ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mutagenesis. Compared with the wild-type Q allele, Qs1 contains a missense mutation in the sequence encoding the first AP2 domain, whereas Qc1-N8 has two missense mutations: one in the sequence encoding the second AP2 domain and the other in the microRNA172-binding site. The Qs1 allele did not significantly affect GPC or other processing quality parameters, but it adversely affected GY by decreasing the thousand kernel weight and grain number per spike. In contrast, Qc1-N8 positively affected GPC and GY by increasing the thousand kernel weight and grain number per spike. Thus, we generated novel germplasm relevant for wheat breeding. A specific molecular marker was developed to facilitate the use of the Qc1-N8 allele in breeding. Furthermore, our findings provide useful new information for enhancing cereal crops via non-transgenic approaches.

Genetic insights into superior grain number traits: a QTL analysis of wheat-Agropyron cristatum derivative pubing3228

“…The germplasm Pubing3228, derived from distant hybridization between common wheat and Agropyron, represents a novel wheat germplasm with numerous desirable agronomic traits, especially those associated with GNS. Therefore, it is imperative to further explore the genetic mechanisms underlying the high grain number in Pubing3228 [ 56 , 57 ].…”

Molecular Genetics Enhances Plant Breeding

“…Similarly, Liu et al [ 34 ] silenced GmBIR1 with BPMV-VIGS to demonstrate that it is a negative regulator of immunity in soybean. Finally, Chen et al [ 35 ] went one step further and explored mutagenesis as a reliable source of de novo allelic variation. The authors characterized mutant Q alleles ( Q s1 and Q c1 -N8 ) for grain yield and grain protein in the wheat cultivar ‘Shumai482’ and its S-Cp 1-1 mutant [ 35 ], complementing the results achieved by Guo et al [ 30 ] in terms of compact spikes and bread quality.…”

“…Finally, Chen et al [ 35 ] went one step further and explored mutagenesis as a reliable source of de novo allelic variation. The authors characterized mutant Q alleles ( Q s1 and Q c1 -N8 ) for grain yield and grain protein in the wheat cultivar ‘Shumai482’ and its S-Cp 1-1 mutant [ 35 ], complementing the results achieved by Guo et al [ 30 ] in terms of compact spikes and bread quality. In spite of these exciting results achieved for the development of trans-genesis, classical intercrossing has not lost validity as a breeding strategy, but rather it has been permeable to the latest genomic advances, such as marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) [ 37 ], introgression breeding, and genomic-assisted recurrent selection [ 41 ].…”

“…For original datasets, please refer to the published articles [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] within the second Special Issue of IJMS on “Molecular Genetics and Plant Breeding 2.0” ( , as accessed on 6 June 2023).…”

High-throughput digital imaging analysis for grain morphology of historical wheat cultivars of Pakistan

“…Wheat is commonly pragmatic in many foods and industrial uses because of its high protein content (GPC). Grain quality currently at the forefront in crop sciences, and improving wheat grain protein content and processing e ciency has become one of the main breeding goals (Chen et al, 2022). Wheat end-use quality is determined by grain hardness or endosperm texture, protein content, and protein quality.…”