QTL mapping for the color, carotenoids and polyphenol oxidase activity of flour in recombinant inbred lines of wheat

Wheat flour color, which is highly related to carotenoids and polyphenol oxidase activity, is important in the assessment of flour quality, particularly the quality of whole wheat flour. In the present study, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for the lutein content (LUC), beta-carotene content (BCC), L* value (Fl*), a* value (Fa*), b* value (Fb*) and polyphenol oxidase activity (PPOA) of the whole wheat flour was conducted using a set of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross ‘Chuan 35050 × Shannong 483’ in three different environments and their mean values (MV). A total of 77 QTLs were located on 20 chromosomes for all of the investigated traits. A single QTL in an environment explained 3.9 (QFb*-7B) to 48.7% (QBcc-4D) of the phenotypic variation. The positive alleles for 36 of the QTLs were obtained from Chuan 35050, whereas the positive alleles of 41 QTLs came from Shannong 483. There were 9, 17, 13, 12, 13 and 13 QTLs found for LUC, BCC, Fl*, Fa*, Fb* and PPOA, respectively. Fifteen QTLs were detected in at least two environments or in at least one environment and the MV. Seventeen QTL clusters were mapped on 12 chromosomes. Of the QTL clusters, three clusters (C4, C8, C13), formed by the relatively stable QTLs, were more important, and the markers (wPt-5587 on 2B for Fl* and Fa*, wPt-6498 on 5B for LUC and Fb*, wPt-671568 on 6A for Fl* and Fb*) near these loci should be useful in marker-assisted selection (MAS).