Abstract
Abstract Key message Analysis of multi-year breeding program data revealed that the genetic architecture of an intermediate wheatgrass population was highly polygenic for both domestication and agronomic traits, supporting the use of genomic selection for new crop domestication. Abstract Perennial grains have the potential to provide food for humans and decrease the negative impacts of annual agriculture. Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate that The Land Institute has been breeding since 2003. We evaluated four consecutive breeding cycles of IWG from 2016 to 2020 with each cycle containing approximately 1100 unique genets. Using genotyping-by-sequencing markers, quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped for 34 different traits using genome-wide association analysis. Combining data across cycles and years, we found 93 marker-trait associations for 16 different traits, with each association explaining 0.8–5.2% of the observed phenotypic variance. Across the four cycles, only three QTL showed an F ST differentiation > 0.15 with two corresponding to a decrease in floret shattering. Additionally, one marker associated with brittle rachis was 216 bp from an ortholog of the btr2 gene. Power analysis and quantitative genetic theory were used to estimate the effective number of QTL, which ranged from a minimum of 33 up to 558 QTL for individual traits. This study suggests that key agronomic and domestication traits are under polygenic control and that molecular methods like genomic selection are needed to accelerate domestication and improvement of this new crop.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
The genetic architecture of the intermediate wheatgrass population was highly polygenic for domestication and agronomic traits.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e1“Analysis of multi-year breeding program data revealed that the genetic architecture of an intermediate wheatgrass population was highly polygenic for both domestication and agronomic traits”
Claim · model-written summary
93 marker-trait associations were found for 16 traits across the breeding cycles of intermediate wheatgrass.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e2“we found 93 marker-trait associations for 16 different traits, with each association explaining 0.8–5.2% of the observed phenotypic variance”
Claim · model-written summary
Each marker-trait association explained 0.8–5.2% of the observed phenotypic variance.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e2“we found 93 marker-trait associations for 16 different traits, with each association explaining 0.8–5.2% of the observed phenotypic variance”
Claim · model-written summary
Only three QTL showed an FST differentiation above 0.15 across the four breeding cycles.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e3“Across the four cycles, only three QTL showed an F ST differentiation > 0.15 with two corresponding to a decrease in floret shattering”
Claim · model-written summary
Two of the QTL with FST differentiation above 0.15 corresponded to a decrease in floret shattering.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e3“Across the four cycles, only three QTL showed an F ST differentiation > 0.15 with two corresponding to a decrease in floret shattering”
Claim · model-written summary
One marker associated with brittle rachis was 216 bp from an ortholog of the btr2 gene.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e4“one marker associated with brittle rachis was 216 bp from an ortholog of the btr2 gene”
Claim · model-written summary
The effective number of QTL, estimated by power analysis and quantitative genetic theory, ranged from 33 up to 558 QTL for individual traits.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e5“Power analysis and quantitative genetic theory were used to estimate the effective number of QTL, which ranged from a minimum of 33 up to 558 QTL for individual traits”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend molecular methods such as genomic selection to accelerate domestication and improvement of intermediate wheatgrass.
Verbatim
e0“Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium , Kernza®) is a promising perennial grain candidate”
e6“molecular methods like genomic selection are needed to accelerate domestication and improvement of this new crop”