TGW in wheat has been one of the target traits for selection during domestication and breeding [7, 8]. For example, in China, an increase in wheat yield potential from ~1 T ha−1 in 1992 to ~5.4 T ha−1 today is mainly due to the genetic increase in TGW from ~20 g to ~45 g, respectively . However, genetic gain in TGW has not reached its limit and thus provides an opportunity to increase yield potential . It is estimated that an increase in yield of 140–160 kg ha−1 can be obtained by just a 1-g increase in TGW . However, genes and their roles in controlling TGW in wheat are still largely unknown. In wheat, TGW is a quantitative trait controlled by several genes/QTL distributed on all chromosomes [8, 11]. For example, Su et al.  discovered eight TGW-related QTL on chromosomes 2D, 4B, 5A, 7A and 7B, explaining up to 16.2% of the phenotypic variation. Similarly, four QTL for TGW on chromosomes 1D, 2A, 5D, and 6A explained 5.9 to 20.1% of phenotypic variation in different environments .