Molecular markers validation to develop a Marker Assisted Selection programme in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf) Husn.)
Author(s)
Menzo, Virginia Melania
Date Issued
March 21, 2011
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Recognizing the enormous potential of DNA markers in plant breeding, many
agricultural research centers and plant breeding institutes have adopted the capacity for
marker development and marker-assisted selection (MAS). DNA markers have enormous
potential to improve the efficiency and precision of conventional plant breeding via
marker-assisted selection. Progress has been made in mapping and tagging many
agriculturally important genes with molecular markers which forms the foundation for
MAS in crop plants.
Molecular markers have several advantages over the traditional phenotypic markers
that were previously available to plant breeders. They offer great scope for improving the
efficiency of conventional plant breeding by carrying out selection not directly on the
trait of interest but on molecular markers linked to that trait. This, of course, would
require a molecular marker to be tightly linked to the trait of interest. Besides, these
markers are not environmentally regulated and are, therefore, unaffected by the
conditions in which the plants are grown and are detectable in all stages of plant growth.
The use of marker-assisted selection for improving complex traits is one of the
challenges facing wheat breeders. Wheat is one of the major food crops utilised
worldwide. Modern cultivars of bread wheat (Triticum L. subsp. aestivum) and durum
wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf) Husn.) are the result of extensive
selection by breeders to meet the agronomic and quality requirements of the diverse
environments under which they are cultivated and the wide range of products for which
they are utilised.
In the Italian context, pasta is the worldwide appreciated end product made from
durum wheat and improvement of end use quality in durum wheat is very essential. In the
efforts on durum wheat improvement, we focused on developing new Italian varieties
with improved diseases resistance and grain quality traits that affects the final product.
Here, we present a practical validation of the use of MAS for durum wheat breeding,
producing gene-pyramided lines via assembling markers linked to interesting agronomic
traits as quality traits (lipoxygenase activity. protein content, yellow pigment content) and
main disease host and non-host resistances (leaf rust, powdery mildew and soil borne
cereal mosaic virus and systemic acquired resistance) from multiple donor lines into a
genetic background of Italian durum cultivars.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Biotecnologie vegetali
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