An Evaluation of Spelt Crosses for Breeding New Varieties of Spring Spelt

Abstract

This study evaluated F5 breeding lines, which were obtained by crossing five parents of spring spelt from different geographical regions characterized by various morphological and performance traits. A total of 11 quantitative traits were analyzed, including six traits relating to yield components, four traits relating to grain quality, and one trait relating to plant height and sensitivity to lodging. The applied clustering method supported the identification of four groups of breeding lines which were presented graphically in a heatmap with dendrogram. Group I contained 33.0% of the breeding lines, and it was most distant from the remaining groups. It was composed of tall plants characterized by high values of yield components, high fat content, and high sensitivity to lodging. Groups III (30.4%) and IV (17.0%) were most similar and were characterized by lower values of yield components, a high content of protein, ash and fiber, and lower sensitivity to lodging. Group II contained 19.6% of the breeding lines, and it was more similar to groups III and IV than group I. Breeding lines with satisfactory performance traits can be selected from each group and used to breed new varieties with the desired traits.

Performance of Modern and Traditional Spelt Wheat (Triticum spelta) Varieties in Rain-Fed and Irrigated, Organic and Conventional Production Systems in a Semi-Arid Environment; Results from Exploratory Field Experiments in Crete, Greece

“…spelta (L.) Thell.) is an ancient hulled, hexaploid wheat, which was cultivated as far back as 7000-8000 BC [1,2]. Spelt was a major food crop in many regions of Europe from the Bronze age to medieval times, but production decreased after the introduction of potato into Europe; and over the last 150 years, spelt wheat was gradually replaced by high-yielding, common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., syn.…”

“…aestivum (L.) Thell.) varieties which have no husks and are therefore easier/cheaper to process [1,2]. However, spelt has remained as a staple food and minor cereal crop in some regions of central Europe and northern Spain [1].…”

Targeting the B1 Gene and Analysis of Its Polymorphism Associated with Awned/Awnless Trait in Russian Germplasm Collections of Common Wheat

“…We analyzed seven accessions of T. spelta, one of the oldest species of wheat, cultivated as far back as 7000-8000 BCE in the Neolithic period [28]. According to the results of genotyping, five accessions were homozygous for the dominant B1 allele, while two accessions had a homozygous genotype for the recessive b1 allele (Figure S4).…”

Features of transcriptional dynamics of the duplicated Vernalization‐B1 gene in wheat (Triticum spp.)

“…In spring spelt wheat, the Vrn‐B1c allele is often revealed in Bavarian spelt varieties, whereas the recessive allele of this gene is found in varieties with dominant Vrn‐A1b.2 of Spanish (Asturian) spelt (Muterko et al, 2016; Muterko & Salina, 2019). However, winter spelt, carrying the recessive vrn1 genes, is assumed to be the predominant cultivated form of spelt in Europe (Packa et al, 2019).…”