Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization

In wheat breeding programs, several hundred crosses are performed annually, but only individuals from a few families advance to the final stages of the breeding pipelines. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the general combining ability (GCA) of wheat genotypes might enhance the breeding efficienc...

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Autores principales: Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio, Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián, Esposito, Salvatore, Velu, Govindan, Huerta-Espino, Julio, Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse, Dreisigacker, Susanne, Saint Pierre, Carolina, Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela, Toledo, Fernando Henrique, Gardner, Keith, Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel, Crossa, Jose, Vitale, Paolo
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Frontiers Media 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178354
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author Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio
Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián
Esposito, Salvatore
Velu, Govindan
Huerta-Espino, Julio
Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse
Dreisigacker, Susanne
Saint Pierre, Carolina
Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela
Toledo, Fernando Henrique
Gardner, Keith
Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel
Crossa, Jose
Vitale, Paolo
author_browse Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel
Crossa, Jose
Dreisigacker, Susanne
Esposito, Salvatore
Gardner, Keith
Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián
Huerta-Espino, Julio
Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela
Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio
Saint Pierre, Carolina
Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse
Toledo, Fernando Henrique
Velu, Govindan
Vitale, Paolo
author_facet Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio
Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián
Esposito, Salvatore
Velu, Govindan
Huerta-Espino, Julio
Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse
Dreisigacker, Susanne
Saint Pierre, Carolina
Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela
Toledo, Fernando Henrique
Gardner, Keith
Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel
Crossa, Jose
Vitale, Paolo
author_sort Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In wheat breeding programs, several hundred crosses are performed annually, but only individuals from a few families advance to the final stages of the breeding pipelines. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the general combining ability (GCA) of wheat genotypes might enhance the breeding efficiency in selecting parents. For this reason, we tested the performance of the offspring of similar to 1200 parental elite lines. Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS), gene ontology (GO) analysis, and genomic prediction (GP), our objectives were to i) identify marker-trait associates (MTAs) and candidate genes, ii) assess temporal allele frequency dynamics of identified MTAs, and iii) estimate prediction accuracy (PA) for key traits: Progeny Number per-Cross (PNC), grain yield (GY), and a combined index incorporating these traits ("index"). Our findings revealed a total of 13 MTAs: eight for GY, four for the "index", and one for PNC. The GO analysis highlighted several genes involved in hydrogen peroxide metabolism and catabolism processes (H2O2), reactive oxygen species, response to oxidative stress, cell wall biogenesis, the metabolic process of modified amino acids at the cellular level, and glutathione metabolic process for the studied traits. Notably, allele frequency analysis over time indicated that most MTAs are under positive selection, likely reflecting indirect breeder-driven selection. The highest PA was reached by using the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) model for the trait GY (0.34). The identification of MTAs for PNC and GY provided insight into the biological pathways underpinning combining ability and demonstrated the potential for predicting the ability of the genotypes to be crossed. These findings might contribute to the optimization crossing strategy saving costs and increasing the breeding program efficiency.
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spelling CGSpace1783542025-11-28T02:01:01Z Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián Esposito, Salvatore Velu, Govindan Huerta-Espino, Julio Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse Dreisigacker, Susanne Saint Pierre, Carolina Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela Toledo, Fernando Henrique Gardner, Keith Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel Crossa, Jose Vitale, Paolo wheat breeding combining ability genome-wide association studies forecasting efficiency In wheat breeding programs, several hundred crosses are performed annually, but only individuals from a few families advance to the final stages of the breeding pipelines. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the general combining ability (GCA) of wheat genotypes might enhance the breeding efficiency in selecting parents. For this reason, we tested the performance of the offspring of similar to 1200 parental elite lines. Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS), gene ontology (GO) analysis, and genomic prediction (GP), our objectives were to i) identify marker-trait associates (MTAs) and candidate genes, ii) assess temporal allele frequency dynamics of identified MTAs, and iii) estimate prediction accuracy (PA) for key traits: Progeny Number per-Cross (PNC), grain yield (GY), and a combined index incorporating these traits ("index"). Our findings revealed a total of 13 MTAs: eight for GY, four for the "index", and one for PNC. The GO analysis highlighted several genes involved in hydrogen peroxide metabolism and catabolism processes (H2O2), reactive oxygen species, response to oxidative stress, cell wall biogenesis, the metabolic process of modified amino acids at the cellular level, and glutathione metabolic process for the studied traits. Notably, allele frequency analysis over time indicated that most MTAs are under positive selection, likely reflecting indirect breeder-driven selection. The highest PA was reached by using the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) model for the trait GY (0.34). The identification of MTAs for PNC and GY provided insight into the biological pathways underpinning combining ability and demonstrated the potential for predicting the ability of the genotypes to be crossed. These findings might contribute to the optimization crossing strategy saving costs and increasing the breeding program efficiency. 2025-10-17 2025-11-27T20:21:42Z 2025-11-27T20:21:42Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178354 en Open Access application/pdf Frontiers Media Saavedra-Ávila, J. I., Gerard, G. S., Esposito, S., Govindan, V., Huerta-Espino, J., Tadesse, Z., Dreisigacker, S., Saint Pierre, C., Pacheco, A., Toledo, F., Gardner, K. A., Crespo-Herrera, L., Crossa, J., & Vitale, P. (2025). Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization. Frontiers in Plant Science, 16, 1675993. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1675993
spellingShingle wheat
breeding
combining ability
genome-wide association studies
forecasting
efficiency
Saavedra-Avila, José Ignacio
Gerard, Guillermo Sebastián
Esposito, Salvatore
Velu, Govindan
Huerta-Espino, Julio
Tarekegn, Zerihun Tadesse
Dreisigacker, Susanne
Saint Pierre, Carolina
Pacheco Gil, Rosa Angela
Toledo, Fernando Henrique
Gardner, Keith
Crespo Herrera, Leonardo Abdiel
Crossa, Jose
Vitale, Paolo
Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title_full Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title_fullStr Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title_full_unstemmed Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title_short Unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in CIMMYT elite bread wheat germplasm: implications for breeding strategies optimization
title_sort unraveling the genetic basis of general combining ability in cimmyt elite bread wheat germplasm implications for breeding strategies optimization
topic wheat
breeding
combining ability
genome-wide association studies
forecasting
efficiency
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178354
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