Further improvements in wheat yields are critical, for which increases in grain number would be required. In the recent past, higher grain number was achieved through increased growth of the juvenile spikes before anthesis, due to the reduction in stem growth. As current cultivars have already an optimum height, alternatives must be identified for further increasing grain number. One of them is increasing fruiting efficiency (grains set per unit of spike dry weight at anthesis). Fruiting efficiency is the final outcome of the fate of floret development and differences in this trait within modern cultivars would be related to higher survival of floret primordia. Then there are two alternative physiological pathways to improve fruiting efficiency by allowing a normal development of most vulnerable floret primordia: an increased allocation of assimilates for the developing florets before anthesis, or reduced demand of the florets for maintaining their normal development. Both alternatives may be possible, and it might be critical to recognize which of them is the actual cause of differences in fruiting efficiency. When considering this trait in breeding we must be aware of potential trade‐offs and therefore it must be avoided that increases in fruiting efficiency be constitutively related to decreases in either spike dry weight at anthesis or grain weight. In this review we described fruiting efficiency and its physiological bases, analyzing genetic variation and considering potential drawbacks that must be taken into account to avoid increases in fruiting efficiency being compensated by other traits.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection is commonly performed by analysis of designed segregating populations derived from two inbred parental lines, where absence of selection, mutation and genetic drift is assumed. Even for designed populations, selection cannot always be avoided, with as consequence varying correlation between genotypes instead of uniform correlation. Akin to linkage disequilibrium mapping, ignoring this type of genetic relatedness will increase the rate of false-positives. In this paper, we advocate using mixed models including genetic relatedness, or ‘kinship’ information for QTL detection in populations where selection forces operated. We demonstrate our case with a three-way barley cross, designed to segregate for dwarfing, vernalization and spike morphology genes, in which selection occurred. The population of 161 inbred lines was screened with 1,536 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and used for gene and QTL detection. The coefficient of coancestry matrix was estimated based on the SNPs and imposed to structure the distribution of random genotypic effects. The model incorporating kinship, coancestry, information was consistently superior to the one without kinship (according to the Akaike information criterion). We show, for three traits, that ignoring the coancestry information results in an unrealistically high number of marker–trait associations, without providing clear conclusions about QTL locations. We used a number of widely recognized dwarfing and vernalization genes known to segregate in the studied population as landmarks or references to assess the agreement of the mapping results with a priori candidate gene expectations. Additional QTLs to the major genes were detected for all traits as well.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-011-1558-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Sensory evaluation is a powerful tool with a wide range of applications in the bakery industry. However, it is necessary to establish a complete methodology for the evaluation. In this study, Innopan has proposed a methodology for the sensory analysis of bread, defining a set of descriptors by setting the appropriate vocabulary for a complete description of bread and closely related products. The protocol outlined included 46 attributes sorted by sensory groups (17 for visual, nine for odor, 12 for flavor and eight for texture), evaluating crumb and crust separately. A trained panel with 10 people has been formed. Once the protocol was established, the validation of the panel was performed after 1 year of training. Significant differences were found between different products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThis work becomes a guide for the sensory analysis of bread. It provides a complete set of attributes for the description of bread and closely related products and the optimum procedure for the evaluation. A standard sensory methodology is an interesting tool for the industry in the development of bakery products to achieve not only the best technological quality but also to consistently meet consumers' expectations. Moreover, the use of a standard sensory methodology facilitates communication among research and producer groups. Journal of Sensory Studies ISSN 0887-8250BREAD SENSORY ANALYSES M. ELÍA

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Està subjecte a una llicència de Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 de Creative Commons

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The high variability lbund among Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) isolates from different geographical areas makes progress in breeding for TYLCV resistance slow.By using Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation, we have identified several new resistant sources to TYLCV within a extraordinarily variable wild Lycopersicon gene pool, collected in semidesert areas of Ecuador and Peru changed into wet by "El Ni6o". This screening assay revealed a high susceptibility within L. esculentum and L. pennellii, but different levels of resistance within L. pitpwinellifolium and L. hirsutum. Resistance level was related to the collection place, being concentrated in accessions collected in Northern Peru (Piura province).Agroinoculation allowed the selection of 4 Lycopersicon pimpinellifoliuni and 2 Lycopersicon hirsutum accessions with higher level of resistance than accessions of these species previously reported, avoiding interference due to vector resistance mechanisms reported in both species.These new resistance sources will be included in pyramiding strategies aimed at obtaining durable resistance to TYLCV.