Genomic regions associated with leaf wilting traits under drought stress in spring wheat at the seedling stage revealed by GWAS

•The results of GWAS analysis revealed 104 significant QTLs associated with drought tolerance and susceptibility in spring wheat.•Five significant DArT markers were validated in a different genetic background.•One marker WPT-2356 was found to be associated with drought susceptibility and fell within a gene model that encodes to UBA-like protein.