Anther culture is the most effective tool for doubled haploid production of wheat. This investigation was conducted to estimate genetic parameters of anther culture response in wheat and identification of putative Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with response traits. Two varieties of wheat, namely ICR-DH (P1) and Sle 1 × 15 (P2) and their F1 and F2 progenies were used in the present investigation to estimate genetic parameters of anther culture response. Two molecular marker systems, SRAP and SSR markers were used to detect the polymorphism between two anther donor parents. Single marker analysis (SMA) and Composite interval mapping (CIM) were used to localize the putative QTL associated with four anther culture response in wheat using 100 plants of F2 population derived from F1 cross ‘ICR-DH’ × ‘Sel 1 × 15’. Analyses of variance
indicated significant differences between four populations (P1, P2, F1 and F2) for callus induction (CAL), number of green plants per 100 anther (GR), number of albino plant per 100 anther (AR) and total regenerated plants per 100 anther (TR). The additive effects were more important than dominance effects in controlling these traits. The two molecular marker systems were sufficient in detecting polymorphism between two parents. Thirty two putative QTLs were detected on eight linkage groups. Our study indicated that the additive effects of genes and detection of new QTLs permit marker-assisted selection of genotypes with high green plantlet regeneration efficiency in anther culture, and therefore favor efficient use of anther culture in wheat breeding programs