GWAS for QTL Contributing to Germination and Initial Radicle Growth Rate of Oats at Low Temperature

Oats are used in everything from cosmetics to food to animal feed. Oat crop stand establishment can be hampered by competition with weeds, but early emergence and vigorous seedling growth may give oats a competitive advantage. In order to identify QTL that influence germination and initial radicle growth rate under conditions that may exist following early spring seeding, we evaluated 252 heritage oat cultivars from the National Small Grains Collection for their average days to germination (dtg) and radicle growth rate (mm d-1) at 4◦C. A mixed linear model was used to test association between 2,715 SNPs and measured phenotypes. There was evidence of QTL contributing to variation among cultivars for both germination rate and radicle growth at low temperatures. Valuable genetic variation for seeding vigor-related traits may exist in traditional or older cultivars. These findings could be used to enable transfer of QTL through marker-assisted breeding.