Wheat is the essential constituent of cereal-based diets and one of the most significant sources of calories. However, there is an inherently low bioavailability of proteins, mineral, and vitamins in modern wheat grains. Biofortification has earned recognition as an outstanding approach, at the same time as a cure for world hunger. The developments in the identifications of quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis and understanding of the physiological and molecular basis of QTLs controlling the biofortification traits in wheat has revealed new horizons for the improvement of modern wheat varieties. Within this review, we have compiled the information from the studies carried out in wheat using QTL mapping methodologies that is among the best methods for biofortification traits. We hope this review will serve as an essential reference for the QTLs identified for the several important biofortification traits in wheat.that could contribute to underexploited wild relatives [25,26]. The different steps involved in the development of biofortification wheat with the aid of marker-assisted breeding are presented in Figure1.
Figure 1.Representation of different strategies for biofortification of the wheat, especially explaining different steps of marker-assisted breeding.Conventional breeding methods are easy to operate with qualitative traits. These traits depend on a single gene whereas traits like yield are quantitative and therefore are impacted by several genes [27,28,29]. There are several techniques for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in an experimental cross [30]. The molecular basis of QTLs is challenging to dissect, even for model plants like Arabidopsis and rice, because of the problems in precisely narrowing intervals to single genes [31]. Experimental design, type of plant population analysed and the level of polymorphisms between parental genomes also affect the predictions of QTLs. Statistical methods to determine quantitative trait loci (QTL) require numerous molecular markers with high-resolution genetic maps [32,33]. This approach is also related to genomics methods which are geared toward the dissection of complex phenotypes [34].Genomic resources of wheat have provided important support for functional genomics and conservation biology (by conserving the important landraces) [35,36]. The wheat genome is complex to interpret simply because of broadly dispersed repetitive sequences, heterozygosity, and polyploidy [37,38]. Nevertheless, the developments in sequencing methodologies, decreased sequencing price, together with the advancements in the computational resources have permitted the spread of these resources [39,40]. Besides, the comparative genomics among plant species is demonstrating to be an efficient method for the identification of novel genes regarding the biofortification of modern wheat [41]. Therefore, in this review, we have compiled the QTLs Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: