Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is an allohexaploid species, consisting of three subgenomes (A, B, and D). To study the molecular evolution of these closely related genomes, we compared the sequence of a 307-kb physical contig covering the high molecular weight (HMW)-glutenin locus from the A genome of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum, AABB) with the orthologous regions from the B genome of the s...

Salinity as well as drought are increasing problems in agriculture. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum Desf.) is relatively salt sensitive compared with bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and yields poorly on saline soil. Field studies indicate that roots of durum wheat do not proliferate as extensively as bread wheat in saline soil. In order to look for genetic diversity in root gro...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L., 2n = 4x = 28; AABB genomes) is a natural hybrid-an allotetraploid between 2 wild species, Triticum urartu Tumanian (AA genome) and Aegilops speltoides Tausch (BB genome). Even at the allotetraploid level, durum wheat can tolerate chromosomal imbalance, for example, addition of alien chromosome 1E of diploid wheatgrass, Lophopyrum elongatum. Therefore, one way ...

Interspecific hybridisation between hexaploid and tetraploid wheat species leads to the development of F1 pentaploid hybrids with unique chromosomal constitutions. Pentaploid hybrids derived from bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum Desf.) crosses can improve the genetic background of either parent by transferring traits of interest. The genetic varia...

Kernel texture (‘hardness’) is an important trait that determines end-use quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum turgidum ssp. durum [Desf.] Husn.). Variation in texture is associated with the presence/absence or sequence polymorphism of two proteins, puroindoline a and puroindoline b. This work describes the flanking and coding region sequences of puroindoline genes from 25 access...

The relationships among 55 wheat accessions (47 accessions collected from Iran and eight accessions provided by the Institute of Plant Biology of the University of Zurich, Switzerland) belonging to eight species carrying A genome (Triticum monococcum L., T. boeoticum Boiss., T. urartu Tumanian ex Gandilyan, T. durum Desf., T. turgidum L., T. dicoccum Schrank ex Schübler, T. dicoccoides (Körn. e...

The English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, is a major pest species of wheat crops; however, certain varieties may have stronger resistance to infestation than others. Here, we investigated 3 classical resistance mechanisms (antixenosis, antibiosis, and tolerance) by 14 wheat varieties/lines to S. avenae under laboratory and field conditions. Under laboratory conditions, alatae given the choice b...