Genomic Selection and Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Drought Tolerance in Elite Spring Wheat Lines

Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences | Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2026 | pp. 6–11

DOI: 10.46882/2026.AAAS.120202

Research Article

Title: Genomic Selection and Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Drought Tolerance in Elite Spring Wheat Lines

Names of Authors: Silva, R. M.¹, Santos, P. H.¹, and Smith, J. A.²

Authors’ Affiliations: ¹Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil. ²Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA.

Abstract: Climate instability threatens international spring wheat productivity due to prolonged moisture deficits during the anthesis phase. This study combined Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) with genomic selection models to uncover markers linked with drought resilience in 185 elite breeding lines. Experiments were deployed under controlled moisture-stress fields where relative water content dropped below 45% during grain filling. High-density Single Nucleotide Polymorphism arrays (90K SNP chip) uncovered 14 distinct quantitative trait loci associated with canopy temperature depression, root length matrix, and spikelet sterility factors. Phenotypic validation indicated that lines possessing favorable alleles at chromosome 3B exhibited a 19.4% increase in relative water conservation during drought peaks. Genomic prediction accuracies utilizing G-BLUP algorithms ranged between 0.52 and 0.68 for kernel weight parameters under extreme water deficiency. The application of selection indices preserved overall grain number per spike, maintaining average test weight at 76.5 kg/hL despite high thermal constraints. The integration of these genomic architectures provides automated channels for acceleration of resilient crop development pipelines.

Keywords: Molecular breeding; Association mapping; Canopy temperature; Triticum aestivum; Allelic variation; Water stress.

Manuscript Timeline: Received October 18, 2025; Revised December 11, 2025; Accepted January 12, 2026; Published February 17, 2026.

Citation: Silva, R. M., Santos, P. H., and Smith, J. A. (2026). Genomic Selection and Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Drought Tolerance in Elite Spring Wheat Lines. Advances in Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences, 12(2), pp. 6–11.

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