Environmentally-mediated yield effects of vernalization and photoperiod alleles in historic winter wheat trials
- 1Department of Soil, Plant, and Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University
Abstract
In common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), variation at the Vrn1 and Ppd1 loci changes plant phenology, resulting in differential adaptation useful to breeders. Because the effects of phenology on grain yield are conditional on environmental factors, the incorporation of markers for Vrn1 and Ppd1 alleles into breeding approaches has proven difficult. Historic phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data can provide insight into the relationship between major phenology alleles and grain yield as mediated by environmental variables. Analyses of eight years of breeding trials (1,038 lines at 219 site-years) determined that weak vrn1 alleles and Ppd1 insensitivity alleles have variable effects. These effects change depending on an environment's winter temperature and latitude, respectively, but the environmentally-driven changes in effect of vrn1 alleles are much more variable than effects of Ppd1 alleles. Mediation analyses showed phenologically-dependent environmental variables are one mechanism through which phenological changes created by vrn1 and Ppd1 variants alter yield across multiple developmental stages. Environmentally-driven relationships between flowering time and yield were modeled to estimate yield allele effects as a function of effects on phenology and environmental variables. Weak winter alleles at vrn1 may play a stabilizing role on yield, due to the correlation of winter conditions that drive larger effects with later-season warm temperatures that penalize later maturity. A better mechanistic understanding of how these loci drive environment-specific yield effects may facilitate utilization of markers for these alleles and improve predictive modeling of yield.
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BibTeX
@misc{dewitt2026environmentallymediated,
title = {{Environmentally-mediated yield effects of vernalization and photoperiod alleles in historic winter wheat trials}},
author = {N. DeWitt and Z. Winn and M. Guedira and J. Lyerly and C. Maltecca and B. Ward and W. Stafstrom and M. A. Babar and N. Bandillo and R. Boyles and S. Harrison and K. Howell and R. E. Mason and E. Melson and M. Mergoum and M. Mohammadi and J. P. Murphy and E. Olson and J. Rutkoski and N. Santantonio and J. H. Smith and C. Sneller and M. Sorrells and R. Sutton and V. Tiwari and D. A. Van Sanford and G. Brown-Guedira},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.18.752491},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752491v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Environmentally-mediated yield effects of vernalization and photoperiod alleles in historic winter wheat trials
AU - N. DeWitt
AU - Z. Winn
AU - M. Guedira
AU - J. Lyerly
AU - C. Maltecca
AU - B. Ward
AU - W. Stafstrom
AU - M. A. Babar
AU - N. Bandillo
AU - R. Boyles
AU - S. Harrison
AU - K. Howell
AU - R. E. Mason
AU - E. Melson
AU - M. Mergoum
AU - M. Mohammadi
AU - J. P. Murphy
AU - E. Olson
AU - J. Rutkoski
AU - N. Santantonio
AU - J. H. Smith
AU - C. Sneller
AU - M. Sorrells
AU - R. Sutton
AU - V. Tiwari
AU - D. A. Van Sanford
AU - G. Brown-Guedira
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.18.752491
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752491v1
AB - In common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), variation at the Vrn1 and Ppd1 loci changes plant phenology, resulting in differential adaptation useful to breeders. Because the effects of phenology on grain yield are conditional on environmental factors, the incorporation of markers for Vrn1 and Ppd1 alleles into breeding approaches has proven difficult. Historic phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data can provide insight into the relationship between major phenology alleles and grain yield as mediated by environmental variables. Analyses of eight years of breeding trials (1,038 lines at 219 site-years) determined that weak vrn1 alleles and Ppd1 insensitivity alleles have variable effects. These effects change depending on an environment's winter temperature and latitude, respectively, but the environmentally-driven changes in effect of vrn1 alleles are much more variable than effects of Ppd1 alleles. Mediation analyses showed phenologically-dependent environmental variables are one mechanism through which phenological changes created by vrn1 and Ppd1 variants alter yield across multiple developmental stages. Environmentally-driven relationships between flowering time and yield were modeled to estimate yield allele effects as a function of effects on phenology and environmental variables. Weak winter alleles at vrn1 may play a stabilizing role on yield, due to the correlation of winter conditions that drive larger effects with later-season warm temperatures that penalize later maturity. A better mechanistic understanding of how these loci drive environment-specific yield effects may facilitate utilization of markers for these alleles and improve predictive modeling of yield.
ER -