Nutritional and quality characteristics expressed in 31 perennial wheat breeding lines

Abstract

Soil erosion due to annual cropping on highly erodible farmland is a major ecological concern in the wheat growing regions of Washington State. In response to requests from farmers, the winter wheat breeding program at Washington State University has been developing perennial wheat selected from crosses between wild wheatgrass species and commonly grown annual wheat cultivars. In 2005/06, we conducted field trials of the most promising perennial wheat breeding lines derived from interspecific crosses between tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum elongatum) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). Thirtyone perennial breeding lines and two annual winter wheat cultivars were evaluated for nutritional value in the form of grain mineral concentration, multiple baking and milling quality traits, and ease of grain threshability. The objective of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these post-harvest traits in the perennial wheat lines derived from these interspecific crosses. Mineral nutrient concentrations in the perennial lines were 44, 40, 24, 23, 32, 30 and 33% higher than the annual control cultivars for calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc, respectively. The annual cultivars had a higher grain mineral content per unit area of land than the perennial lines, due primarily to the higher grain yields of the annual cultivars. Compared to the annual wheat cultivars, the perennial lines produced grain with smaller seed size, lower test weight and reduced flour yield, mix time and loaf volume. Protein content was 3.5-4.5% higher in the perennial lines than in the annual cultivars. The threshability index (TI) ranged from 0.63 to 0.89 in the perennials (m = 0.75); significantly lower than the mean TI of the annual cultivars (m = 0.97). The significant genotyperlocation interaction found for TI suggests that the variation in annual precipitation positively influenced some perennial lines to express greater threshability. In addition to transferring traits important to the perennial growth habit in wheat, the wild wheatgrass species also introduced beneficial characteristics (i.e. increased protein and mineral concentration) and deleterious traits (poor threshing grain and inferior baking qualities). This research gives researchers a platform from which to direct further research and selection in the development of perennial wheat.

A Robertsonian translocation from Thinopyrum bessarabicum into bread wheat confers high iron and zinc contents

“…Murphy et al. () reported increased grain Fe and Zn contents in perennial wheat lines derived from interspecific crosses between bread wheat and Th. elongatum (2n = 2 x = 14; EE), a close relative of Th.…”

Understanding perennial wheat adoption as a transformative technology: evidence from the literature and farmers

“…The benefits of perennial grains for reducing nitrate leaching, enhancing the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, sequestering carbon, reducing erosion, reducing labor and input costs and improving resilience to climate change have all been proposed, and some of these benefits have been demonstrated on the field scale (Glover et al, 2010;Jaikumar et al, 2012;Pimentel et al, 2012;Culman et al, 2013). However, the focus of efforts to develop a new perennial growth form of wheat has privileged grain yield, and to a lesser extent grain quality (Cox et al, 2006;Murphy et al, 2009Murphy et al, , 2010Jaikumar et al, 2012;Hayes et al, 2012), over the potential environmental benefits these crops would provide both on-farm and across the landscape.…”

Evaluation of winter wheat breeding lines for traits related to nitrogen use under organic management

“…With continued breeding and selection for yield, it is probable that the perennial wheat will show a similar progression to annual wheat, where modern varieties now out-yield their historic counterparts. Perennial breeding lines more advanced than the bulk studied here are currently being tested in the breeding program (Murphy et al 2009a, b).…”

“…for traits such as plant height, heading date, spike phenotype (becoming more compact), threshability, and grain yield (Murphy, unpublished data) and that are capable of regrowth in subsequent years after the first harvest (Murphy et al 2009b). Higher micronutrient and protein contents point to the potential ability of these populations to take up soil resources more efficiently than annual wheat (Murphy et al 2009a). …”