Genetic Mapping of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Associated with Low Cadmium Uptake in Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum Desf.)

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal that no biological function has been known for this element. The maximum level of Cd concentration which is allowed to trade on international markets for wheat grains is 0.2 mg kg-1. Therefore accumulation of Cd in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum Desf), may threaten its export. To develop new durum wheat cultivars that are low in Cd uptake, and speed up the selection process in breeding program, identification of SNP(s) associated with low Cd uptake in the durum experimental line D041735 was proposed in this study. An F_4:5 population from a cross between D041735 and Divide (a high Cd uptake cultivar) was phenotyped for Cd uptake. The wheat 90k SNP chips were processed via Illumina’s Infinium protocol by the Genotyping Lab at the USDA in Fargo. Genotypes were scored using the GenomeStudio software (Illumina). After filtering out SNPs with high missing data rate, linkage maps were developed using MapDisto software version 2.5. Recently published durum wheat consensus map was used to aid in the linkage map development for this study. Results from QTL mapping analysis performed using QTL Cartographer v. 2.5 will be presented.