Genome-Wide Association Study of Grain Manganese Content in Bread Wheat ( L.) Under Four Environments.

Microelements play important roles to maintain the normal metabolism of the human body, and deficiency of microelements always leads to a serious diseases. Manganese (Mn) is an essential microelement for the human body. However, the mechanism for regulating grain Manganese (Mn) content (GMnC) in wheat is rarely studied. In this study, we determined the GMnC of 477 wheat accessions in four environments. The changes in GMnC in different released years and backgrounds were analyzed, which revealed that the trait of GMnC in wheat was not indirectly selected in the selective breeding process. The 660 K single nucleotide polymorphism microarray about these 477 wheat accessions was further used for a genome-wide association study using the GMnC phenotype. Fifteen quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified on chromosomes 2A, 2B, 3B, 5A, 5B, 5D, 6A, 6D, 7A, and 7B for wheat GMnC, which were detected in more than two environments. Four important QTLs and some candidate genes were screened. This study will contribute to further understanding the mechanism in regulating GMnC in wheat.