Quantitative trait loci for flour viscosity in winter wheat

Starch paste viscosity of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour is predictive of wheat quality in some styles of oriental noodles. We mapped quantitative genetic variation for flour paste viscosity in the recombinant inbred (RI) population of 78 lines derived from the cross NY6432-18/'Clark's Cream'. T he population was evaluated for three seasons in Aberdeen, ID, and one seas on at Moscow. ID, and Ithaca, NY. We identified nine restriction fragment l ength polymorphism (RFLP) markers (Xbcd1086, Xbcd1307, Xbcd135c, Xbcd18, Xb cd402, Xbcd198, Xcdo456, Xcdo678, and Xcdo718) that Here associated with si gnificant differences (P < 0.01) in starch viscosity among the RI lines at two or more locations. The RFLP markers Xbcd1307, Xbcd135c, and Xbcd18c had the largest effects across all five environments; they were each associate d with an approximate 7% increase in flour viscosity averaged across all RI lines and environments. Starch viscosity can be increased by mutations to the granule bound starch synthase (GBSS) gene of wheat. However, this mappi ng population is not segregating for GBSS mutations. Therefore, the quantit ative trait loci (QTL) identified in this research could likely be combined with the qualitative mutations that are known in other genotypes.