Dormancy in white-grained wheat: Progress towards identification of genes and molecular markers

Abstract

Preharvest sprouting limits the consistent production of high quality wheat in many regions of the world. Improvements in tolerance from the introduction of better grain dormancy at, or near, harvest-ripeness would be expected to have a significant impact on the incidence and severity of sprouting. Genetic and molecular investigations have provided new evidence for the presence of dormancy genes on chromosome 3D of white-grained genotypes AUS1408 and N72.72 (T. sphaerococcumderivative), and identified a potential molecular marker for one of the dormancy genes in AUS1408. Analysis of a doubled haploid population derived from Cranbrook (extremely non-dormant, very susceptible to sprouting) × Halberd (intermediate dormancy, moderately tolerant to preharvest sprouting) identified three significant quantitative trait loci on chromosome arms 2AL, 2DL, and 4AL, all contributed by the very susceptible parent.