© 2007 The Author(s).
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RESEARCH PAPER |
Identification of variation in adaptively important traits and genome-wide analysis of trait–marker associations in Triticum monococcum
1Centre for Sustainable Pest and Disease Management, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
2N. I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, St Petersburg, 190000, Russian Federation
3Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK
4Ukrainian Institute for Plant Variety Examination, Centre for Certification Trials, 15 Henerala Rodimtseva Street, Kyiv 03041, Ukraine
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kim.hammond-kosack{at}bbsrc.ac.uk
Einkorn wheat Triticum monococcum (2n=2x=14, AmAm) is one of the earliest domesticated crops. However, it was abandoned for cultivation before the Bronze Age and has infrequently been used in wheat breeding. Little is known about the genetic variation in adaptively important biological traits in T. monococcum. A collection of 30 accessions of diverse geographic origins were characterized for phenotypic variation in various agro-morphological traits including grain storage proteins and endosperm texture, nucleotide-binding site (NBS) domain profiles of resistance (R) genes and resistance gene analogues (RGAs), and germination under salt and drought stresses. Forty-six SSR (single sequence repeat) markers from bread wheat (T. aestivum, 2n=6x=42, AABBDD) A genome were used to establish trait–marker associations using linear mixed models. Multiple significant associations were identified, some of which were on chromosomal regions containing previously known genetic loci. It is concluded that T. monococcum possesses large genetic diversity in multiple traits. The findings also indicate that the efficiency of association mapping is much higher in T. monococcum than in other plant species. The use of T. monococcum as a reference species for wheat functional genomics is discussed.
Key words: Association mapping, biological and agronomic traits, disease resistance, genetic variation, grain storage proteins, grain texture, salt and drought tolerance, T. monococcum
Received 8 April 2007; Revised 1 August 2007 Accepted 28 August 2007