Phenolic acid intake through the consumption of whole-wheat foods provides important health benefits associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases and colon cancer. The genetic variation for phenolic acids was extensively studied in common wheat, but a comprehensive survey in tetraploid wheat is lacking. In this study we evaluated the genetic variability for individual and total phenolic acids concentration existing in a large collection of tetraploid wheat (Triticum turgidum L.). A 2-year evaluation was undertaken on the whole-meal flour of 111 genotypes belonging to seven T. turgidum subspecies including cultivars, landraces and wild accessions. Durum cultivars [T. turgidum subsp. durum (Desf.) MacKey], had the highest average concentration of total phenolic acids (828.7 μg g−1 dm in 2012; 834.5 μg g−1 dm in 2013) with amounts varying from 550.9 μg g−1 dm to 1701.2 μg g−1 dm, indicating a variation of greater than threefold fold. The lowest concentration of phenolic acids was found in T. turgidum subsp. dicoccum (Schrank ex Schübler) Thell. Rivet wheat (T. turgidum L. subsp. turgidum) had phenolic acid concentrations similar to those in durum, but less variation was noted among the accessions. On the other hand, the accessions of the four remaining subspecies showed lower phenolic acid concentrations and variation among the accessions as compared to durum. A total of six phenolic acids were identified across the wheat genotypes. The effects of genotype, year and year × genotype were estimated by ANOVA and resulted significant for all phenolic acids. The ratio of genotypic variance to total variance suggested the possibility of improving phenolic acid content in elite wheat germplasm through appropriate breeding programs. Moreover, significant correlations between phenolic acids and other quality characteristics of the grain were detected

The Tunisian durum wheat germplasm includes modern cultivars and traditional varieties that are still cultivated in areas where elite cultivars or intensive cultivation systems are not suitable. Within the frame of a collection program of the National Gene Bank of Tunisia (NGBT), durum wheat germplasm was collected from different Tunisian agro-ecological zones. The collected samples were studied using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers to explore the genetic diversity and evaluate the genetic structure in Tunisian germplasm. The results demonstrated significant diversity in the Tunisian durum wheat germplasm, with clear differentiation between traditional varieties and modern cultivars. The population structure analysis allowed the identification of five subpopulations, two of which appear to be more strongly represented in germplasm collected in central and southern Tunisia, where environmental conditions at critical development phases of the plant are harsher. Moreover these subpopulations are underrepresented in modern varieties, suggesting that traits of adaptation useful for breeding more resilient varieties might be present in central and southern germplasm. Moreover, our results will support, the activity of in situ on farm conservation of Tunisian durum wheat germplasm started by the National Gene Bank of Tunisia along with the ex situ approach.

Wheat is the most widely grown crop and represents the staple food for one third of the world’s population. Wheat is attacked by a large variety of pathogens and the use of resistant cultivars is an effective and environmentally safe strategy for controlling diseases and eliminating the use of fungicides. In this study, a collection of wild and cultivated tetraploid wheats (Triticum turgidum) were evaluated for seedling resistance (SR) and adult plant resistance (APR) to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) and genotyped with a 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to identify new sources of resistance genes. The genome-wide association mapping detected 18 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for APR and 8 QTL for SR, four of which were identical or at least closely linked to four QTL for APR. Thirteen candidate genes, containing nucleotide binding sites and leucine-rich repeats, were localized in the confidence intervals of the QTL-tagging SNPs. The marker IWB6155, associated to QPm.mgb-1AS, was located within the gene TRITD1Av1G004560 coding for a disease resistance protein. While most of the identified QTL were described previously, five QTL for APR (QPm.mgb-1AS, QPm.mgb-2BS, QPm.mgb-3BL.1, QPm.mgb-4BL, QPm.mgb-7BS.1) and three QTL for SR (QPm.mgb-3BL.3, QPm.mgb-5AL.2, QPm.mgb-7BS.2) were mapped on chromosome regions where no resistance gene was reported before. The novel QTL/genes can contribute to enriching the resistance sources available to breeders.

In the present study, a detailed deletion\ud map for wheat chromosomes 5A and 5B is reported, as\ud well as an integrated genetic linkage map of chromosome\ud 5A enriched with single nucleotide polymorphism\ud (SNP) markers, useful both for comparison\ud studies with other existing maps and for mapping\ud major genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Physical\ud mapping of 5,011 SNP markers was obtained\ud using Chinese Spring bin deletion lines for the\ud homoeologous chromosomes of group 5; \ud 509 SNPs were also genetically mapped in a recombinant inbred\ud line population segregating for chromosome 5A only,\ud obtained by crossing the cultivar Chinese Spring and\ud the disomic substitution line Chinese Spring-5A\ud dicoccoides. The whole 5A genetic map, containing\ud 572 markers, covered a total length of 248.7 cM\ud distributed among three linkage groups of 83.5, 117.8\ud and 47.4, respectively. The majority of SNP markers\ud physically mapped on 5A were mapped to a unique\ud bin, while a small percentage was assigned a double\ud location, suggesting the presence of a segment of 5A\ud short arm which may have undergone a duplication\ud followed by an insertion into the long arm of the same\ud chromosome. A QTL analysis for yield components\ud was performed, identifying a major QTL in the subtelomeric\ud region of chromosome 5A, corresponding to\ud the 5AL15-0.67-0.78 bin; the chromosome segment\ud was 23.5 cM long and included 111 markers. Candidate\ud genes for yield components on chromosome 5A\ud were identified through a syntenic genomic approach\ud by comparison with genomes of model species.\ud Putative function analysis revealed genes involved in\ud basic metabolism and in stress condition responses,\ud including heat shock proteins, chaperones, serine/\ud threonine protein kinases and membrane transporters,\ud located in the region of the QTL. This information\ud represents an important step for map-based and\ud candidate gene-based cloning of yield QTLs

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Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has elevated commercial value due to its health appeal, desirable characteristics and quantitatively limited production, and thus it has become an object of intentional adulteration. As EVOOs on the market might consist of a blend of olive varieties or sometimes even of a mixture of oils from different botanical species, an array of DNA-fingerprinting methods have been developed to check the varietal composition of the blend. Starting from a comparison between publicly available DNA extraction protocols, we set up a timely, low-cost, reproducible and effective DNA isolation protocol, which allows an adequate amount of DNA to be recovered even from commercial filtered EVOOs. Then, in order to verify the effectiveness of the DNA extraction protocol herein proposed, we applied PCR-based fingerprinting methods starting from the DNA extracted from three EVOO samples of unknown composition. In particular, genomic regions harboring nine simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and eight genotyping-by-sequencing-derived single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were amplified for authentication and traceability of the three EVOO samples. The whole investigation strategy herein described might favor producers in terms of higher revenues and consumers in terms of price transparency and food safety.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the main quality traits in the parental lines of wheat segregating populations to identify the best for subsequent genetic mapping of the traits. Significant differences (p < 0.001) among wheat genotypes were observed. Many of the examined crosses appeared to be suitable for the purpose, showing differences among parental lines as high as 4.6% for protein content, 6.4% for gluten content, 69 for gluten index, 50 mL for sodium dodecyl sulphate sedimentation volume, and 33.9 g for thousand-kernel weight, whereas differences accounting for 4.8, 2.4, and 7.3 were observed for yellow index, red index and brown index, respectively. The results pointed out that for studying at the same time the quantitative and qualitative features of gluten, the wheat populations derived from Latino x MG29896 and Saragolla x 02-5B-318 could be particularly appropriate. In addition, the latter cross was suitable to deepen the knowledge of yellow index regulation.