Effect of VRN-1 and PPD-D1 genes on heading time in European bread wheat cultivars

摘要

The variation of the vernalization (VRN-1) and photoperiod (PPD-1) genes offers opportunities to adjust heading time and to maximize yield in crop species. The effect of these genes on heading time was studied based on a set of 245 predominantly spring cultivars of bread wheat from the main eco-geographical regions of Europe. The genotypes were screened using previously published diagnostic molecular markers for detecting the dominant or recessive alleles of the major VRN-1 loci such as: VRN-A1, VRN-B1, VRN-D1 as well as PPD-D1. We found that 91% of spring wheat cultivars contain the photoperiod sensitive PPD-D1b allele. Photoperiod insensitive PPD-D1a allele has been found mainly in southern region of Europe. For this region the monogenic control of vernalization by VRN-B1 or VRN-D1 dominant alleles is common, whereas in the remaining part of Europe, the combination of photoperiod sensitive PPD-D1b allele with dominant VRN-A1, VRN-B1 and recessive vrn-D1 alleles represents the most frequent genotype. Also, we revealed a significantly later (5-8 days) heading of the monogenically dominant genotypes at VRN-B1 as compared to the digenic VRN-A1 VRN-B1 genotypes.