Mapping QTLs with main and epistatic effects underlying grain yield and heading time in soft winter wheat

There is increasing awareness that epistasis plays a role for the determination of complex traits. This study employed an association mapping approach in a large panel of 455 diverse European elite soft winter wheat lines. The genotypes were evaluated in multi-environment trials and fingerprinted with SSR markers to dissect the underlying genetic architecture of grain yield and heading time. A linear mixed model was applied to assess marker-trait associations incorporating information of covariance among relatives. Our findings indicate that main effects dominate the control of grain yield in wheat. In contrast, the genetic architecture underlying heading time is controlled by main and epistatic effects. Consequently, for heading time it is important to consider epistatic effects towards an increased selection gain in marker-assisted breeding.