Wheat flour protein content and water absorption analysis in a doubled haploid population

A wheat×maize induced doubled haploid population that segregates at the Awned locus for awned and awnless phenotypes were studied at two field sites using a genetic linkage map. Interval QTL analysis indicated that significant QTLs for wheat flour water absorption and protein content were located on a linkage group associated with the morphological marker, awns. The QTL peak for flour water absorption was located at the Awned locus (B1, 5AL), whilst the QTL peak for protein content was located nearby, 10.1 cm away from the Awned locus. The locations of those QTL were confirmed by analysing data from two independent field trials conducted under different environment conditions. The QTL identified for water absorption controlled 12% and 11% of the observed variance at the two field trials, whilst for flour protein content the QTL explained 7% and 19% of the variance respectively. Variance component analysis indicated that the QTL for water absorption controlled approximately 14.8–25.0% and 13.6–23% of the genetic variance at the two sites studied (Roma and Jimbour) whilst the QTL for protein content explained between 12.8% and 30.4% of the genetic variance at Roma and 34.7–82.6% at Jimbour. Cross-site analysis with composite interval mapping approach resulted in significant LOD values of 6.12 and 9.94 for water absorption and protein content, respectively. The QTL for water absorption was independent from the hardness locus.