AUTHOR=Shi Weiping, Hao Chenyang, Zhang Yong, Cheng Jingye, Zhang Zheng, Liu Jian, Yi Xin, Cheng Xiaoming, Sun Daizhen, Xu Yanhao, Zhang Xueyong, Cheng Shunhe, Guo Pingyi, Guo Jie TITLE=A Combined Association Mapping and Linkage Analysis of Kernel Number Per Spike in Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01412 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.01412 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=Kernel number per spike (KNPS) in wheat is a key factor that limits yield improvement. In this study, we genotyped a set of 264 cultivars, and a RIL population derived from the cross Yangmai 13/C615 using the 90 K wheat iSelect SNP array. We detected 62 significantly associated signals for KNPS at 47 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci through genome-wide association analysis of data obtained from multiple environments. These loci were on 19 chromosomes, and the phenotypic variation attributable to each one ranged from 1.53 to 39.52%. Twelve (25.53%) of the loci were also significantly associated with KNPS in the RIL population grown in multiple environments. For example, BS00022896_51-2ATT, BobWhite_c10539_201-2DAA, Excalibur_c73633_120-3BGG, and Kukri_c35508_426-7DTT were significantly associated with KNPS in all environments. Our findings demonstrate the effective integration of association mapping and linkage analysis for KNPS, and underpin KNPS as a target trait for marker-assisted selection and genetic fine mapping.