Detection of QTLs for heading time and photoperiod response in wheat using a doubled-haploid population.

The genetic basis of heading time in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was investigated through the study of flowering under normal autumn sown field conditions as well as photoperiod responses under a controlled environment. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits were mapped in a doubled-haploid (DH) population derived from a cross between the wheat cultivars 'Courtot' and 'Chinese Spring'. A molecular marker linkage map of this cross that was previously constructed based on 187 DH lines and 380 markers was used for QTL mapping. The genome was well covered (85%) except for chromosomes 1D and 4D, and a set of anchor loci regularly spaced over the genome (one marker each 15.5 cM) was chosen for marker regression analysis. The presence of a QTL was declared at a significance threshold of alpha = 0.005. The population was grown under field conditions in Clermont-Ferrand, France during two years (1994-1995), in Norwich, U.K. over one year (1998), and also under controlled environments in Norwich. For each trait, between 2 and 4 QTLs were identified with individual effects ranging between 6.3% and 44.4% of the total phenotypic variation. Two QTLs were detected that simultaneously affected heading time and photoperiod response. For heading time, these two QTLs were detected in more than one year. One QTL located on chromosome arm 2BS near the locus Xfbb121-2B, co-segregated with the gene Ppd-B1 known to be involved in photoperiod response. This chromosome region explained a large part of the variation (23.4-44.4% depending on the years or the traits). Another region located on chromosome arm 7BS between the loci Xfbb324-7B and Xfbb53-7B also had a strong effect (7.3-15.3%). This region may correspond to a QTL for earliness per se.