Identification of Molecular Markers for Resistance to Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Triticum aestivum

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) represents a worldwide major problem in wheat production, because it causes huge loss of grain quality. PHS occurs when germination of grains takes place in the spike before harvest and it is influenced by high humidity. The goal of this study was to find QTLs (quantitative trait loci) on chromosomal regions from Romanian wheat and the identification of specific markers that can be used for plant breeding in order to improve resistance to pre-harvest sprouting. The parental lines with different sensibility to pre-harvest sprouting (Turda 95-sensible, Turda 18-94-resistant, Lovrin 32-sensible, Fundulea 29 – resistant) were used for the genotypic characterization using microsatellite markers. A total of 119 from 640 SSR (simple sequence repeats) markers used on the parental lines indicated polymorphism. The initial primer test with the polymorphic markers on the cross lines: Turda 95(S) x Turda 18-94(R), Turda 95(S) x Fundulea 29 (R), Turda 18-94(R) x Lovrin 32 (S) showed that the cross between Turda 95(S) x Turda 18-94(R) had the highest number of segregating markers in the population. 111 F2 lines of the cross Turda 95(S) x Turda 18-94(R) now are being genotypic and phenotypic characterized in order to detect the QTLs underlying pre-harvest sprouting resistance.