What Makes Bread and Durum Wheat Different?. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mastrangelo, Anna M.; Cattivelli, Luigi
• Is Part Of: Trends in plant science. Volume 26:Number 7(2021)
• Page Start: 677
• Page End: 684
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: bread wheat -- durum wheat -- grain quality traits -- interspecific crosses -- adaptation to environment; Botany -- Periodicals; Botanique -- Périodiques; Botany; Periodicals; 580.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.01.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1360-1385

Abstract

Abstract : Durum wheat (tetraploid) and bread wheat (hexaploid) are two closely related species with potentially different adaptation capacities and only a few distinct technological properties that make durum semolina and wheat flour more suitable for pasta, or bread and bakery products, respectively. Interspecific crosses and new breeding technologies now allow researchers to develop wheat lines with durum or bread quality features in either a tetraploid or hexaploid genetic background; such lines combine any technological properties of wheat with the different adaptation capacity expressed by tetraploid and hexaploid wheat genomes. Here, we discuss what makes bread and durum wheat different, consider their environmental adaptation capacity and the major quality-related genes that explain the different end-uses of semolina and bread flour and that could be targets for future wheat breeding programs. Highlights: Durum (tetraploid, BBAA) and bread (hexaploid, BBAADD) wheat are two related species with different technological properties of the grains and end-use products (pasta and bakery products, respectively). The hexaploid genome confers a wider adaptation capacity, a feature that may explain the much larger distribution of bread wheat. The close relationship makes possible to overcome the interspecific barrier and transfer genes between durum and bread wheat in both directions. Only a few traits, regulated by major genes, are responsible for the technological properties of bread and durum wheat grains and they can be shuttled between the two species. Both tetraploid and hexaploid wheat carrying either pasta or bread quality traits could be, and to some extent have already been, developed.