Unraveling the genetic basis of heat tolerance and yield in bread wheat: QTN discovery and Its KASP-assisted validation.

Background: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a globally significant cereal crop and staple food, faces major production challenges due to abiotic stresses such as heat stress (HS), which pose a threat to global food security. To address this, a diverse panel of 126 wheat genotypes, primarily landraces, was evaluated across twelve environments in India, comprising of three locations, two years and two growing conditions.

Identification of quantitative trait nucleotides for grain quality in bread wheat under heat stress.

Heat stress is a critical factor affecting global wheat production and productivity. In this study, out of 500 studied germplasm lines, a diverse panel of 126 wheat genotypes grown under twelve distinct environmental conditions was analyzed. Using 35 K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays and trait data on five biochemical parameters, including grain protein content (GPC), grain amylose content (GAC), grain total soluble sugars (TSS), grain iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) content, six multi-locus GWAS (ML-GWAS) models were employed for association analysis.