Plant & Animal Genomes XVII Conference

January 10-14, 2009
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Mapping Reproductive Stage Heat Tolerance In Wheat

Richard E. Mason , Suchismita Mondal , Dirk B. Hays

  Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843

High temperature stress during reproductive stage development is a primary constraint to wheat yield and end-use quality in the U.S. Southern Great Plain. Heat stress impairs photosynthesis, induces pollen sterility, seed abortion, reduced tests weights, and poor end-use quality due to an early transition to the dry seed stage or or impaired maturation. We have found that a high percentage of the current elite cultivars in this region lack adequate heat tolerance in these yield and quality attributes. In an effort to overcome this we have identified sources of heat tolerance from Australian, CIMMYT and Middle Eastern wheat lines. These sources of heat tolerance have been introgressed into elite disease resistant lines with progeny in advanced yield trials. They have also been used to develop RIL mapping tools. In this study, we will report on the identification of QTLs regulating heat tolerance in terms of loci that regulate yield and end-use quality stability and important morphological adaptations.