A novel compensating wheat–Thinopyrum elongatum Robertsonian translocation line with a positive effect on flour quality

Wheat flours are used to produce bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, and biscuits; the various properties of these end-products are attributed to the gluten content, produced as seed storage proteins in the wheat endosperm. Thus, genes encoding gluten protein are major targets of wheat breeders aiming to improve the various properties of wheat flour. Here, we describe a novel compensating wheat-Thinopyrum elongatum Robertsonian translocation (T1AS.1EL) line involving the short arm of wheat chromosome 1A (1AS) and the long arm of Th. elongatum chromosome 1E (1EL); we developed this line through centric breakage-fusion. Compared to the common wheat cultivars Chinese Spring and Norin 61, we detected two additional 1EL-derived high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) in the T1AS.1EL plants. Based on the results of an SDS-sedimentation volume to estimate the gluten strength of T1AS.1EL-derived flour, we predict that T1AS.1EL-derived flour is better suited to bread-making than Chinese Spring- and Norin 61-derived flour and that this is because of its greater gluten diversity. Also, we were able to assign 33 of 121 wheat PCR-based Landmark Unique Gene markers to chromosome 1E of Th. elongatum. These markers can now be used for further chromosome engineering of the Th. elongatum segment of T1AS.1EL.