Foods (Mar 2023)

Bread Wheat Biofortification for Grain Carotenoid Content by Inter-Specific Breeding

  • María Dolores Requena-Ramírez,
  • Cristina Rodríguez-Suárez,
  • Carmen M. Ávila,
  • Carmen Palomino,
  • Dámaso Hornero-Méndez,
  • Sergio G. Atienza

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12071365
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 7
p. 1365

Abstract

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Bread wheat has traditionally been selected for whitish derived flours. As a consequence, the current varieties carry carotenogenic alleles associated with low grain carotenoid. In contrast, high grain yellow pigment content (YPC) has been a major target in durum wheat programs since yellow colour is an important aesthetic factor for pasta production. Phytoene synthase 1 (Psy1) genes have an important role in the determination of the carotenoid content in wheat. In this work, we have transferred the genes Psy1-A1 and Psy1-B1 from durum to bread wheat by inter-specific hybridization in order to evaluate the combined effect of these genes for the improvement of grain carotenoid content, as well as the development of carotenoid-enriched bread wheat lines. Inter-specific breeding coupled with a MAS approach based on Psy1-A1 and Psy1-B1 alleles has allowed the development of bread wheat pre-breeding lines with enhanced grain carotenoid content (16–23% mean). These biofortified lines have the potential to become new varieties or to be used as recurrent parents in bread wheat breeding programs.

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