Work

Haplotype-based genetic dissection of baking quality in the MAGIC winter wheat population WM-800 under contrasting nitrogen treatments

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Improved wheat baking quality under reduced nitrogen (N) inputs is an essential requirement for climate smart and environmentally sustainable agriculture. To enhance wheat nitrogen use efficiency, a detailed understanding of the underlying quantitative genetic architecture is required. The MAGIC (Multi-parent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross) population WM-800, derived from intercrossing eight diverse German elite winter wheat cultivars, provides a powerful resource for high-resolution trait dissection. Here, Zeleny sedimentation volume (SED) and grain protein content (GPC) were assessed across seven environments under low and high N supply. The multi-parental design of WM-800 enabled the detection of highly resolved haplotype effects. Under N limited conditions, the haplotype-based GWAS revealed significant associations at three Glu-1 loci, which encode the high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits. Beyond this, a previously unreported QTL on chromosome 3 A with large, additive effects on both GPC (increased by 0.46%) and SED (increased by 2.49 mL) was identified. Additional QTL with stable, N independent effects across environments were detected. The predominantly additive contributions across all QTL highlight the suitability of WM-800 for dissecting quality traits and provide effective targets for breeding more resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable wheat cultivars. These findings expand the known genetic determinants of wheat baking quality. Moreover, they show that the targeted accumulation of favourable haplotypes may enable a wheat quality improvement under reduced N fertilization, contributing directly to lower N fertilizer demand and a reduced carbon footprint. • A wheat MAGIC population was characterized by SNP haplotypes and multi-field baking trials. • Haplotype-based GWAS identified 47 marker-trait-associations for baking quality traits GPC and SED. • Several QTL could be assigned to known HMW-GS glutenin loci under both tested N treatments. • Novel QTL showed genetic effects of increasing GPC and SED by up to 0.46% and 4.35 mL, respectively. • N independent quality QTL may promote selection for baking quality under reduced N fertilization.

Source: Current Plant Biology

DOI: 10.1016/j.cpb.2026.100620