Heat stress (HS) is detrimental to wheat production and productivity globally. To combat HS, several genetic, molecular, and genomic approaches have been employed in the past. Analyzing the physiochemical mechanisms and the important regulatory genes involved is the key to develop HS tolerant plants. In the present work, a total of 243 novel simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed from stress-associated genes identified through RNA-seq were used for understanding marker–trait associations. 37 SSRs were found to be clearly polymorphic and among these, 28 SSR loci were significantly associated with component traits of HS tolerance. The polymorphic SSRs were validated for diversity analysis on a subset of 85 genotypes. The genotypes were grouped into four clusters representing diverse and similar alleles imparting HS tolerance in Indian and exotic genotypes. Additionally, 28 genes selected for the expression analysis confirmed that 15 genes were induced under HS in the thermotolerant WH1021 and Raj3765 and repressed in thermosusceptible HD2009 cultivar. Hence, the information on traits associated with candidate genes and the SSR markers overlying on the gene will enhance our understanding of thermotolerance mechanism operating in wheat and will help the breeders in the precise development of heat-tolerant genotypes through marker-assisted selection (MAS).

热应激（HS）不利于全球小麦的生产和生产力。为了对抗HS，过去已经采用了几种遗传，分子和基因组方法。分析涉及的理化机制和重要的调控基因是发展耐HS植物的关键。在当前的工作中，从通过RNA-seq鉴定的与压力相关的基因开发的总共243个新的简单序列重复（SSR）标记用于理解标记-性状关联。发现37个SSR明显地是多态的，其中，有28个SSR基因座与HS耐性的组分性状显着相关。验证了多态性SSR对85个基因型的子集进行的多样性分析。基因型分为四个簇，分别代表在印度和外来基因型中赋予HS耐受性的不同和相似的等位基因。此外，选择用于表达分析的28个基因证实了在耐热WH1021和Raj3765中在HS下诱导了15个基因，并在热敏感的HD2009品种中被抑制。因此，有关候选基因的性状信息和该基因上的SSR标记信息将增进我们对小麦耐热机制的理解，并通过标记辅助选择（MAS）帮助育种者精确开发耐热基因型。 。选择用于表达分析的28个基因证实，在耐热WH1021和Raj3765中，在HS诱导下有15个基因被诱导，并在热敏HD2009品种中被抑制。因此，有关候选基因性状的信息以及该基因上覆盖的SSR标记将增强我们对小麦耐热机制的理解，并将通过标记辅助选择（MAS）帮助育种者精确开发耐热基因型。 。选择用于表达分析的28个基因证实，在耐热WH1021和Raj3765中，在HS诱导下有15个基因被诱导，并在热敏HD2009品种中被抑制。因此，有关候选基因性状的信息以及该基因上覆盖的SSR标记将增强我们对小麦耐热机制的理解，并通过标记辅助选择（MAS）帮助育种者精确开发耐热基因型。 。