Project description:The close relationship between diet and health is generally recognized and the growing wellness and consciousness, especially in developed countries, have led to increasing interest for old wheat genotypes, based on perceived health benefits. Although nutritional comparison between old and modern wheat varieties is still controversial, it is generally accepted that old wheat genotypes remained unchanged over the last hundred years. By contrast, modern wheat genotypes are derived by modification of old wheats during the so-called “Green-Revolution” in the second half of the 20th century focusing on obtaining properties in terms of higher grain yield. The present work reports the first comprehensive proteomic profiling and qualitative comparison at the molecular level of metabolic and Chloroform-Methanol (CM)-like protein fractions extracted from mature kernels of two old Sicilian durum wheat landraces, Russello and Timilia Reste Bianche, and Simeto, an improved durum wheat variety widespread in Italy and other Mediterranean countries and chosen as representative of the most widely commercial cultivars. The results obtained reveal that metabolic and CM-like protein fractions of old and modern genotypes present remarkably high similarity with only minor differences. This leads to the conclusion that from a food and nutritional perspective there is a substantial equivalence of the protein composition of the old and modern cultivars.
Project description:Previous studies have shown that the Ancient Egyptians used malted wheat and barley as the main ingredients in beer brewing, but the chemical determination of the exact recipe is still lacking. To investigate the constituents of ancient beer, we conducted a detailed IR and GC-MS based metabolite analyses targeting volatile and non-volatile metabolites on the residues recovered from the interior of vats in what is currently the world's oldest (c. 3600 BCE) installation for large-scale beer production located at the major pre-pharaonic political center at Hierakonpolis, Egypt. In addition to distinguishing the chemical signatures of various flavoring agents, such as dates, a significant result of our analysis is the finding, for the first time, of phosphoric acid in high level probably used as a preservative much like in modern beverages. This suggests that the early brewers had acquired the knowledge needed to efficiently produce and preserve large quantities of beer. This study provides the most detailed chemical profile of an ancient beer using modern spectrometric techniques and providing evidence for the likely starting materials used in beer brewing.
Project description:Bread aroma is the principal characteristic perceived by the consumer yet it is mostlydisregarded in the product chain. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the potential toinclude bread aroma as a new target criterion into the wheat product chain. The objectivesof our study were to (i) quantify the influence of genetic versus environmental factors onthe bread aroma and quality characteristics, (ii) evaluate whether bread baked from modernwheat varieties differ in terms of aroma from those baked from old varieties and (iii) comparegenomic and metabolomic approaches for their efficiency to predict bread aroma and qualitycharacteristics in a wheat breeding program. Agronomic characters as well as bread aroma andquality traits were assessed for 18 old and 22 modern winter wheat varieties evaluated at up tothree locations in Germany. Metabolite profiles of all 120 flour samples were collected using a7200 GC-QTOF. Considerable differences in the adjusted entry means for all examined breadaroma and quality characters were observed. For aroma, which was rated on a scale from 1 to9, the adjusted entry means varied for the 40 wheat varieties between 3 and 8. In contrast,the aroma of bread prepared from old and modern wheat varieties did not differ significantly(P<0.05). Bread aroma was not significantly (P<0.05) correlated with grain yield, whichsuggested that it is possible to select for the former character in wheat breeding programswithout reducing the gain of selection for the latter. Finally, we have shown that bread aromacan be better predicted using a combination of metabolite and SNP genotyping profiles insteadof the SNP genotyping profile only. In conclusion, we have illustrated possibilities to increasethe quality of wheat for consumers in the product chain.
Project description:Background: Waterlogging was one of the most serious abiotic stresses in wheat-growing regions of China. There were great differences in waterlogging tolerance among different wheat varieties, and the mechanism of waterlogging tolerance of wheat seeds during germination was unclear. Methods: In order to reveal the adaptability of wheat to waterlogging stress during germination, we analyzed the germination rate and anatomical structure of three wheat seeds, ‘Zhoumai 22’, ‘Bainong 207’ and ‘Bainong 607’. At the same time, Illumina sequencing technology was used to determine the transcriptome of these three wheat varieties during germination. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between the germination rate of ‘Bainong 207’ after 3 days of waterlogging treatment and that of the control seeds. However, under waterlogging stress, the degree of emulsification and degradation of endosperm cells was higher than that of the control treatment, and starch granules in endosperm were significantly reduced. Transcriptome data were obtained from seed samples (a total of 18 samples) of three wheat varieties under waterlogging and control treatment. A total of 2,775 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comprehensive analysis. In addition, by analyzing the correlation between the expression levels of DEGs and seed germination rates in three wheat varieties under waterlogging stress, it was found that the relative expression levels of 563 and 398 genes were positively and negatively correlated with the germination rate of wheat seeds, respectively. The GO and KEGG analysis found that the difference in waterlogging tolerance of the three wheat varieties was related to the abundance of key genes involved in the glycolysis pathway, the starch and sucrose metabolism pathway, and the lactose metabolism pathway. The ethanol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene in the endosperm of ‘Bainong 607’ was immediately induced after a short period of waterlogging, and the energy provided by glycolysis pathway enabled the seeds of ‘Bainong 607’ to germinate as early as possible, while the expression level of AP2/ERF transcription factor was up-regulated to further enhance its waterlogging tolerance. Conclusions: In general, this study provided a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which different wheat varieties respond to waterlogging stress during germination.
Project description:Introduction: Pre-harvest Sprouting (PHS) seriously affects wheat quality and yield. However, to date there have been limited reports. It is of great urgency to breed resistance varieties via quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) or genes for PHS resistance in white-grained wheat. Methods: 629 Chinese wheat varieties, including 373 local wheat varieties from 70 years ago and 256 improved wheat varieties were phenotyped for spike sprouting (SS) in two environments and genotyped by wheat 660K microarray. These phenotypes were used to associate with 314,548 SNP markers for identifying QTNs for PHS resistance using several multi-locus genome-wide association study (GWAS) methods. Their candidate genes were verified by RNA-seq, and the validated candidate genes were further exploited in wheat breeding. Results: As a result, variation coefficients of 50% and 47% for PHS in 629 wheat varieties, respectively, in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 indicated large phenotypic variation, in particular, 38 white grain varieties appeared at least medium resistance, such as Baipimai, Fengchan 3, and Jimai 20. In GWAS, 22 significant QTNs, with the sizes of 0.06% ~ 38.11%, for PHS resistance were stably identified by multiple multi-locus methods in two environments, e.g., AX-95124645 (chr3D:571.35Mb), with the sizes of 36.390% and 45.850% in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, respectively, was detected by several multi-locus methods in two environments. As compared with previous studies, the AX-95124645 was used to develop Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR marker QSS.TAF9-3D (chr3D:569.17Mb~573.55Mb) for the first time, especially, it is available in white-grain wheat varieties. Around this locus, nine genes were significantly differentially expressed, and two of them (TraesCS3D01G466100 and TraesCS3D01G468500) were found by GO annotation to be related to PHS resistance and determined as candidate genes. Discussion: The QTN and two new candidate genes related to PHS resistance were identified in this study. The QTN can be used to effectively identify the PHS resistance materials, especially, all the white-grained varieties with QSS.TAF9-3D-TT haplotype are resistant to spike sprouting. Thus, this study provides candidate genes, materials, and methodological basis for breeding wheat PHS resistance in the future.
Project description:Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most valuable cereal crops for the human consumption. Its grain storage proteins greatly impact bread quality, though may cause food intolerances or allergies in susceptible individuals. Consequently, the investigation of a proteome polymorphism among wheat varieties is important to spot the genotypes, which would be promising donors for the breeding of hypoallergenic cereals. Herein, we discovered diversity of grain proteins in three Ukrainian wheat cultivars: ‘Sotnytsia’, ‘Panna’ (both modern selection) and ‘Ukrainka’ (old landrace). Firstly, proteins were isolated with a SDS-containing buffer that allowed extraction of various groups of storage proteins (glutenins, gliadins, globulins and albumins). Secondly, the proteome was profiled by the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, revealing 810 clearly-separated gel spots. Software-assisted analysis of gel images, showed 66 differentially abundant proteins. Using multi-enzymatic digestion, followed by the tandem mass spectrometry, we identified 49 differentially accumulated proteins. Parallel ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography profiling and direct mass spectrometry quantification complemented the results. With this approach we quantified 127 proteins, 12 being differentially abundant. Principal component analysis confirmed genotype as a major source of variation in both cases. Non-gluten fraction was the most diverse among investigated bread wheat cultivars. Information from public databases of clinically relevant plant proteins highlighted variable groups of wheat allergens/toxins. Data suggested that one of the modern cultivars contained less health affecting proteins in grain. Finally, we proposed set of genetic landmarks for the development of DNA marker system, which will enable fast and efficient assessment of medical safety of multiple wheat genotypes to facilitate breeding programs.