Genome-wide association study of ferulic acid content using 90K and 660K SNP chips in wheat

Ferulic acid is an important bioactive compound in wheat grains and has great effect on dietary health. Identification of genetic loci can facilitate breeding wheat cultivars with higher ferulic acid content (FAC). Here a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify genetic loci controlling FAC in wheat grain using 90K and 660K chips in a diversity panel of wheat cultivars. Eight major loci for FAC, FAC-1B, FAC-2A, FAC-4A-I, FAC-4A-II, FAC-6B, FAC-7B–I, FAC-7B-II and FAC-7B-III were detected and each explained approximately 10% of the phenotypic variances. The favorable alleles of the major loci have significantly accumulative effects on FAC. A group of varieties with more favorable alleles and higher FAC was also identified according to genotypic and phenotypic analyses. Two SNPs closely associated with FAC-4A-I and FAC-6B, respectively, were successfully converted to flexible kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers to facilitate marker-assisted selection in breeding. The findings not only supply useable materials for food industry and breeding, but also lay a foundation for dissecting genetic architecture underpinning FAC in wheat.