Mining the stable quantitative trait loci for agronomic traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) based on an introgression line population

Background: Human demand for wheat will continue to increase together with the continuous global population growth. Agronomic traits in wheat are susceptible to environmental conditions. Therefore, in breeding practice, priority is given to QTLs of agronomic traits that can be stably detected across multiple environments and over many years.

Results: In this study, QTL analysis was conducted for eight agronomic traits using an introgression line population across eight environments (drought stressed and well-watered) for five years. In total, 44 additive QTLs for the above agronomic traits were detected on 15 chromosomes. Among these, qPH-6A, qHD-1A, qSL-2A, qHD-2D and qSL-6A were detected across seven, six, five, five and four environments, respectively. The means in the phenotypic variation explained by these five QTLs were 12.26%, 9.51%, 7.77%, 7.23%, and 8.49%, respectively.

Conclusions: We identified five stable QTLs, which includes qPH-6A, qHD-1A, qSL-2A, qHD-2D and qSL-6A....