Key message Our scalable two-step method estimates genotypic performance and genetic parameters from ranking data, producing reliable results comparable to quantitative analyses, enabling the integration of ranking data into breeding pipelines. Abstract Plant breeding research has chiefly relied on on-station experiments to evaluate varietal performance. Nevertheless, these trials often fail to represent on-farm growing condit...

Key message Stem structural investment enhances grain size and yield under drought, challenging the traditional view of vegetative-reproductive trade-offs. Antagonistic pleiotropy at the SSt1 locus reveals a genetic constraint between stem diameter and solidness. Incorporating genotype-by-environment into genomic selection models improves prediction accuracy by 46.5%. Abstract Terminal drought is the primary environmental cons...

Key message A nuclear-localized G2-like transcription factor, TaGLK-A1 ( TraesCS7A02G539600 ), was identified as a strong candidate gene for grain fructan content in wheat using GWAS, linkage mapping and transcriptome analysis. Abstract Fructans, a type of natural polysaccharides or oligosaccharides polymerized from fructose molecules, play important physiological roles in crops and confer great health benefits to humans. In t...

Key message Haplotype-based nested association mapping conducted in Australian barley identified 30 haploblocks for resistance/susceptibility to net form of net blotch. Stacking multiple resistance haplotypes significantly reduced disease severity. Abstract Net form net blotch (NFNB), caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres , is a major fungal disease affecting barley, leading to significant yield losses globally. Improving the s...