A dCAPS marker developed from a stress associated protein gene TaSAP7-B governing grain size and plant height in wheat

Stress associated proteins (SAPs) are the A20/AN1 zinc-finger proteins which confer to abiotic stresses in plants. In this study, TaSAP7-B, including two AN1 domains, was isolated from B genome of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Sequencing analysis on TaSAP7-B illustrated one InDel (insertion-deletion) and one SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) in the promoter region while no diversity was observed in the coding region. On the basis of SNP in the promoter region (-260 bp), a dCAPS (derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences) marker SNP-260 was developed for TaSAP7-B. Using a natural population consisting of 262 wheat accessions, significant associations were detected between the marker SNP-260 and agronomic traits, such as plant height (PH), peduncle length (PL), length of penultimate internode (LPI), number of spike per plant (NSP), and 1 000-grain weight (TGW). Two genotypes were identified using marker SNP-260 in the natural population. Among them, the genotypes possessing C allele exhibited a higher TGW and shorter PH than the T genotypes. Hence, base C was considered as the superior allele. The dCAPS marker of TaSAP7-B can be instrumental for marker-assisted selection for high grain size and short plant height.