Abstract
Modern plant-breeding practices have narrowed the genetic base of wheat, such that there is a need to introduce new germplasms with underexploited diversity into breeding programs. Wheat landraces are a very valuable resource when searching for genetic variation, which not only possess increased adaptability, but also quality-related traits. Several studies have shown a wide genetic diversity in Spanish wheat landraces compared to other germplasm collections; therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyze the variability in a collection of 189 landraces from the Spanish National Plant Genetic Resources Centre (Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos, CRF-INIA, Alcalá de Henares), in relation to end-use quality traits. We characterized the whole collection for high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindoline allelic composition, and for gluten strength. In addition, grain protein content, grains per spike, and thousand kernel weight were evaluated in samples from four-year field trials. The relationship between glutenin composition and quality was evaluated, and some alleles strongly associated with high quality were identified in the collection, some of them specific for Iberian landraces. The results also show the presence of novel variability within high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindolines, which needs to be characterized further in order to assess its influence on wheat quality. In addition, a set of landraces showing outstanding values for gluten quality and a good agronomic performance was selected for testing in field trials in order to evaluate the suitability of their direct use in cropping systems.
Highlights
Wheat is one of the three main crops grown across the world
Genotypic Characterization of Bread Wheat Landraces In order to facilitate the exploitation of Spanish wheat landraces in breeding programs, we determined their allelic profile for quality-related genes: puroindolines and HMW-Gs subunits
Fifteen landraces carried an allele previously described only in Spanish landraces and spelt wheat, not included in the Catalogue of Gene Symbols, but tentatively classified as the allele Pinb-D1ad [45]. This allele has a C/T change in position 271. It leads to an early stop codon in the predicted mature protein (Q91*), which is associated with a hard texture [45]
Summary
Wheat is one of the three main crops grown across the world It covers 214 million hectares and represents a quarter of total cereal production, with 765 million tons produced in 2019 [1]. Since the Green Revolution in the 1960s, the genetic base of wheat has been narrowed because only a small set of elite cultivars has been used for breeding [4]. In this context, wheat landraces, adapted to their region of origin and traditionally grown with less inputs, represent an important source of genetic variability [5,6,7]. Several studies have yet to successfully identify interesting landraces that could widen the gene pools of modern cultivars by adding underexploited diversity to wheat breeding programs [8,9,10,11]
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