Abstract
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plays a major role among the few crop species being extensively grown as staple food sources. As the human population grows, new methods and approaches must be found to attain wheat cultivars with improved characteristics. The challenge now is to produce higher-yielding varieties with good technological quality that are resistant or tolerant to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, because of the critical nutritional status of human population, there is an urgent need for development of such wheat varieties that would be more nutritious (with improved protein, zinc, iron, etc. value), meeting our health demands. This article summarises present status in this field.
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a self-pollinating annual plant, belonging to the family Poaceae, tribe Triticeae, genus Triticum
Transgenic wheat plants stably expressing an antifungal barley seed class II chitinase gene showed increased resistance to powdery mildew, but even more significant protection was obtained with the introduction of the gene for an apoplastic ribosome-inactivation protein (RIP) from barley (YAHIAOUI et al, 2006)
AKHTAR et al (2008) conducted experimental trials to evaluate the resistance of host wheat plants against Rhopalosiphum padi L. and only one variety V-9021 was found to show the highest level of resistance
Summary
Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a self-pollinating annual plant, belonging to the family Poaceae (grasses), tribe Triticeae, genus Triticum. Such significant increases in yield are unlikely to be attained through only the traditional, or even the newly developed marker-assisted breeding methods, because neither the germplasm of wheat nor its close relatives is likely to contain the wide variety of genes that would be needed to meet future demands. The number of micronutrient-malnourished people is raising, the improvement of nutritional quality of wheat as a staple crop must be of interest to plant breeders These objectives require the introduction of novel- and in many instances alien and multiple- genes into commercial varieties of wheat by genetic transformation, and production of transgenic varieties with the desired attributes (VASIL, 2003). Genomics research will continue to enhance the efficiency and precision for crop improvement but will not totally replace conventional breeding and evaluation methods (VARSHNEY et al, 2007)
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