Mining the putative candidates for conservation agriculture adaptation linked traits in bread wheat using GWAS
摘要
Conservation agriculture (CA), particularly zero tillage (ZT), imposes distinct selective pressures on wheat that are inadequately addressed by conventionally bred cultivars. This study evaluated 207 lines of a Linked Top Cross population (LTP) of wheat under zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) across two years to dissect phenotypic responses and identify genomic regions associated with CA adaptation. Significant genetic variation and genotype × tillage interactions were observed for all major phenological, agronomic, and yield-related traits. Grain yield under ZT was primarily influenced by tiller number and thousand grain weight, with altered correlation structures compared with CT. Genome-wide association studies identified 128 and 93 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) under CT and ZT, respectively, including stable and pleiotropic loci for days to heading, plant height, tillering, grain weight, and yield across years and management practices. Several MTAs were consistently detected across environments, highlighting conserved genetic control of key adaptive traits under reduced soil disturbance. The integration of multi-environment phenotyping with GWAS provides valuable insights into the genetic architecture of CA adaptation and identifies robust loci for marker-assisted and genomic selection. These findings support the development of wheat cultivars with enhanced productivity and resilience under conservation agriculture systems.