AUTHOR=Tian Xiuling , Wen Weie , Xie Li , Fu Luping , Xu Dengan , Fu Chao , Wang Desen , Chen Xinmin , Xia Xianchun , Chen Quanjia , He Zhonghu , Cao Shuanghe 

TITLE=Molecular Mapping of Reduced Plant Height Gene Rht24 in Bread Wheat

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01379

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.01379

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Height is an important trait related to plant architecture and yield potential in bread wheat (<italic>Triticum aestivum</italic> L.). We previously identified a major quantitative trait locus <italic>QPH.caas-6A</italic> flanked by simple sequence repeat markers <italic>Xbarc103</italic> and <italic>Xwmc256</italic> that reduced height by 8.0–10.4%. Here <italic>QPH.caas-6A</italic>, designated as <italic>Rht24</italic>, was confirmed using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a Jingdong 8/Aikang 58 cross. The target sequences of <italic>Xbarc103</italic> and <italic>Xwmc256</italic> were used as queries to BLAST against International Wheat Genome Sequence Consortium database and hit a super scaffold of approximately 208 Mb. Based on gene annotation of the scaffold, three gene-specific markers were developed to genotype the RILs, and <italic>Rht24</italic> was narrowed to a 1.85 cM interval between <italic>TaAP2</italic> and <italic>TaFAR</italic>. In addition, three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers linked to <italic>Rht24</italic> were identified from SNP chip-based screening in combination with bulked segregant analysis. The allelic efficacy of <italic>Rht24</italic> was validated in 242 elite wheat varieties using <italic>TaAP2</italic> and <italic>TaFAR</italic> markers. These showed a significant association between genotypes and plant height. <italic>Rht24</italic> reduced plant height by an average of 6.0–7.9 cm across environments and were significantly associated with an increased TGW of 2.0–3.4 g. The findings indicate that <italic>Rht24</italic> is a common dwarfing gene in wheat breeding, and <italic>TaAP2</italic> and <italic>TaFAR</italic> can be used for marker-assisted selection.</p>