A sample of 480 bread wheat varieties originating from 15 European geographical areas and released from 1840 to 2000 were analysed with a set of 39 microsatellite markers. The total number of alleles ranged from 4 to 40, with an average of 16.4 alleles per locus. When seven successive periods of release were considered, the total number of alleles was quite stable until the 1960s, from which time it regularly decreased. Clustering analysis on Nei's distance matrix between these seven temporal groups showed a clear separation between groups of varieties registered before and after 1970. Analysis of qualitative variation over time in allelic composition of the accessions indicated that, on average, the more recent the European varieties, the more similar they were to each other. However, European accessions appear to be more differentiated as a function of their geographical origin than of their registration period. On average, western European countries (France, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium) displayed a lower number of alleles than southeastern European countries (former Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary) and than the Mediterranean area (Italy, Spain and Portugal), which had a higher number. A hierarchical tree on Nei's distance matrix between the 15 geographical groups of accessions exhibited clear opposition between the geographical areas north and south of the arc formed by the Alps and the Carpathian mountains. These results suggest that diversity in European wheat accessions is not randomly distributed but can be explained both by temporal and geographical variation trends linked to breeding practices and agriculture policies in different countries.

Organic farmers look to the possibilities of growing neglected crops, such as the spring forms of hulled wheat -einkorn, emmer and spelt -for support in developing the organic farming system. In 2008, 169 landraces from the gene bank at the Crop Research Institute in Prague were tested on certifi ed organic plots. The experiment was aimed at fi nding suitable varieties for the organic farming system. In summary, our fi ndings show that einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) and emmer wheat [Triticum dicoccum Schrank (Schuebl)] are resistant to powdery mildew and brown rust, spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) is less resistant to these two diseases, and the intermediate forms of bread wheat are very sensitive to such infestation. The varieties evaluated incline to lodging, as they have long and weak stems. Einkorn and emmer wheat have short and dense spikes and a low thousand grains weight, whereas spelt wheat has long and lax spikes. The level of the harvest index is low. Potentially useful varieties were found during the fi eld experiment and evaluation, and our future efforts will therefore focus on improving resistance to lodging and increasing the productivity of the spike.

Two sets of winter wheat landraces and obsolete cultivars were studied in three-year field experiments, and compared with 3 modern control cultivars. The higher spike productivity in modern cultivars could mainly be attributed to an increased number of grains in a spikelet and harvest index (HI), whereas thousand grain weight (TGW) has only a slight effect. Landraces and old cultivars proved to have a higher content of crude protein. Spike productivity characteristics, except for TGW, showed a negative correlation with the crude protein content in the grain. The number of kernels in a spikelet strongly affected the spike’s productivity, whereas the TGW has only half the effect. The mean yield of four modern cultivars was 51% higher than the mean yield of 31 landraces and obsolete cultivars. Regression analysis proved the much stronger response of modern cultivars to environment (<I>b </I>= 1.63), then was the response of old cultivars (<I>b </I>= 0.87). Different responses to environments were found within the set of 31 landraces, as well. We could also identify potentially valuable donors of earliness and winter hardiness among the old cultivars. High crude protein content (up to 18%), and other valuable quality characteristics, were rather frequent. In both sets, HMW <I>Glu</I>-subunits were described, and we have additionally studied 67 selected lines. Among them, 10 lines showed the crude protein content of 17.5% to 18.3% (where the gluten index and Zeleny test varied from 28.5 to 54.0 and 36.8 to 61.7, respectively). High values of all quality characteristics showed lines gained from the cultivars Mindeszentpusztai (HUN), Szekacz 19 (HUN), Bartweizen linie a (AUT), Viglašská červenoklasá (CZE), as well as some others.

Particular agronomic traits of six landraces of Triticum diccocum Schrank (Schuebl) were studied during three years in Prague and České Budějovice localities, Czech Republic. The analysis of tolerance to drought by using the method of 13 C discrimination (CID) was also focused on in the research. All the tested varieties were resistant to usual wheat diseases. An inclination of particular varieties to lodging and a low harvest index rate (0.33) were negative factors having a significant effect on the yield rate. Meanwhile, all the varieties contained a high percentage of proteins in grain (17.92%) which was an important advantage in low input conditions. The landraces of emmer wheat also proved to be more tolerant to drought (CID = 25.82‰) than check varieties of bread wheat (CID = 26.70‰). Results of the research showed that some of the emmer landraces may be successfully grown and used directly in low-input farming systems or in breeding programs focused on the breeding of suitable varieties for lowinput farming.

No abstract