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Journal article
Genome-wide association study reveals major SNPs associated with pollen viability and spikelet fertility in wheat under heat stress
Plant growth regulation, Vol.106(1), 71
2026
Abstract
Heat stress during the reproductive stage significantly reduces wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity, primarily by impairing pollen viability and grain filling rate. This study employed genome-wide association study (GWAS) using 5,171 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 319 diverse wheat lines to identify genomic regions associated with pollen viability and spikelet fertility under reproductive-stage heat stress. Pollen viability was assessed from field-grown plants subjected to high temperature in a controlled setup using a thermal cycler. Spikelet fertility was evaluated in two years with heat treatment applied at the four different ear emergence stages. The wheat population showed significant genotypic and phenotypic variation. Chinese landraces formed a distinct cluster from other groups and generally exhibited lower pollen viability and spikelet fertility compared to Chinese commercial varieties. Pollen viability score exhibited moderate correlation with spikelet fertility after two weeks' heat treatment at early-ear emergence stage. GWAS identified 15 significant SNPs associated with these two traits. Notably, AVRIG15341 on chromosome 1B and AVRIG21657 on chromosome 3A explained 20.31% and 11.9% of phenotypic variation in pollen viability, respectively. AVRIG26861 on chromosome 5A explained 17.09% of phenotypic variation in spikelet viability. Combination of favorable alleles showed higher trait performance, suggesting strong potential for use in marker-assisted selection. Several putative genes associated with energy metabolism, stress signaling and transcription regulation, protein folding and modification, redox homeostasis, and ion transport and trafficking were suggested suing the highly significant SNPs. Our pioneering study provides new insights into the genetic architecture of reproductive-stage heat tolerance in wheat and offers valuable genetic resources for breeding heat-resilient cultivars, pending validation through multiple-location field trials.
Details
- Title
- Genome-wide association study reveals major SNPs associated with pollen viability and spikelet fertility in wheat under heat stress
- Authors/Creators
- Abu Bakar Siddique - Univ Tasmania, Tasmanian Inst Agr, Launceston, Tas 7250, AustraliaOnusha Sharmita - University of TasmaniaMengjia Sun - University of TasmaniaQinglan Wei - University of TasmaniaChengdao Li - Murdoch University, Centre for Crop and Food InnovationRajeev K. Varshney - Murdoch University, Food Futures InstituteSergey Shabala - Foshan UniversityZhong-Hua Chen - Australian Wine Research InstituteMeiqin Lu - Cotton Research and Development CorporationChenchen Zhao - University of TasmaniaMeixue Zhou - University of Tasmania
- Publication Details
- Plant growth regulation, Vol.106(1), 71
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 19
- Grant note
- University of Tasmania
- Identifiers
- 991005917019507891
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2026
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Crop and Food Innovation; State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre; Food Futures Institute
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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