Novel Quantitative Trait Loci for Grain Cadmium Content Identified in Hard White Spring Wheat

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that can cause a variety of adverse effects on human health, including cancer. Wheat comprises approximately 20% of the human diet worldwide; therefore, reducing the concentrations of Cd in wheat grain will have significant impacts on the intake of Cd in food products. The tests for measuring the Cd content in grain are costly, and the content is affected significantly by soil pH. To facilitate breeding for low Cd content, this study sought to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and associated molecular markers that can be used in molecular breeding. One spring wheat population of 181 doubled haploid lines (DHLs), which was derived from a cross between two hard white spring wheat cultivars "UI Platinum" (UIP) and "LCS Star" (LCS), was assessed for the Cd content in grain in multiple field trials in Southeast Idaho, United States. Three major QTL regions, namely, <i>QCd.uia2-5B</i>, <i>QCd.uia2-7B</i>, and <i>QCd.uia2-7D</i>, were identified on chromosomes 5B, 7B, and 7D, respectively. All genes in these three QTL regions were identified from the NCBI database. However, three genes related to the uptake and transport of Cd were used in the candidate gene analysis. The sequences of <i>TraesCS5B02G388000</i> (<i>TaHMA3</i>) in the <i>QCd.uia2-5B</i> region and <i>TraesCS7B02G320900</i> (<i>TaHMA2</i>) and <i>TraesCS7B02G322900</i> (<i>TaMSRMK3</i>) in the <i>QCd.uia2-7B</i> region were compared between UIP and LCS. <i>TaHMA2</i> on 7B is proposed for the first time as a candidate gene for grain Cd content in wheat. A KASP marker associated with this gene was developed and it will be further validated in near-isogenic lines <i>via</i> a gene-editing system in future studies.