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. 2023 Mar 23;12(7):1365.
doi: 10.3390/foods12071365.

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

María Dolores Requena-Ramírez  1 , Cristina Rodríguez-Suárez  1 , Carmen M Ávila  2 , Carmen Palomino  1 , Dámaso Hornero-Méndez  3 , Sergio G Atienza  1
Affiliations

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

María Dolores Requena-Ramírez et al. Foods. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Phytoene synthase; biofortification; bread wheat; carotenoids; durum wheat; marker-assisted selection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Crossing scheme and selection for the transference of Psy1-A1 and Psy1-B1 from durum wheat (DW) to bread wheat (BW) (Image created with Biorender.com).
Figure 2
Figure 2
HPLC chromatograms corresponding to the grain carotenoid profile of the DW ‘Kiko Nick’, the BW breeding lines ES07H044SWC29, 12THES4515 and representative individuals of KN × THES and KN × C29 crosses. Peak identities: 1, (all-E)-zeaxanthin; 2, (all-E)-lutein; 3, (Z)-lutein isomers; 4, (all-E)-β-carotene; LME, lutein monoesters; LDE, lutein diesters. Detection wavelength was 450 nm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phenotypic effect of the simultaneous presence of DW alleles for Psy1-7A and Psy1-7B on the total grain carotenoid content (µg/g fresh weight) of bread wheat lines obtained in this work. For each cross, bars represent the mean total carotenoid content ± SE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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