Micronutrient Contents and Nutritional Values of Commercial Wheat Flours and Flours of Field-grown Wheat Varieties - A Survey in Hungary

Wheat-based food has great importance in human nutrition: in European countries they provide 20-30% of the daily calorie intake, and additionally, the wholemeal and healthy food becomes even more popular. Mineral content in grains is dependent on genetic and environmental factors (varieties, soil type, geographical location of the growing area, etc.), therefore, it is complicated to estimate how many percentage of the daily micronutrient requirements can be covered by wheat-based products. In this study, copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) contents of 13 commercial wheat flour products, and the white flour and wholemeal of 24 winter type bread wheat varieties were studied to estimate the nutritional value of these products. All investigated samples were produced in Hungary. Significant variation was revealed in the case of all mineral elements in the different brands of wheat flours. Generally, the white flour enriched with germ showed higher mineral contents than the average values of normal white flours. Furthermore, the wholemeal has higher Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn, but not higher Se contents than the white flours. Mo content was also higher in some brands of white flour than in wholemeal. The investigated winter wheat varieties showed significant differences in the case of Fe, Mn, Se and Zn contents, but none of the varieties showed outstandingly high micronutrient content. The milling process -as it was expected -reduces the concentrations of four elements (Fe 33%; Mn 88%; Zn 71%; Cu 44%); however, the Se and Mo concentrations were not affected significantly. Using the average micronutrient content in the wholemeal of varieties, the daily Mn and Fe requirement can be covered by the consumption of about 250 g wholemeal. Additionally, the daily Mo requirement could be met by the daily consumption of 140-190 g of commercial white or wholemeal flour

Mapping of Genes Involved in Glutathione, Carbohydrate and COR14b Cold Induced Protein Accumulation during Cold Hardening in Wheat

Using some of the chromosome substitution lines developed from the crosses of the donor Cheyenne to Chinese Spring we showed that the accumulation of water soluble carbohydrates during different stages of hardening was time dependent. Moreover there was a significant correlation between the rate of carbohydrate accumulation and the frost tolerance. The expression and regulation of a wheat gene homologous to the barley cold regulated cor14b gene was compared in frost sensitive and frost tolerant wheat genotypes at different temperatures. Studies made with chromosome substitution lines showed that the threshold induction temperature polymorphism of the cor14b wheat homologous gene was controlled by loci located on chromosome 5A of wheat, while cor14b gene was mapped, in Triticum monococcum, onto the long arm of chromosome 2Am. Our study on the effect of cold hardening on glutathione (GSH) metabolism showed that chromosome 5A of wheat has an influence on the GSH accumulation and on the ratio of reduced and oxidised glutathione as part of a complex regulatory function during cold hardening. In addition, the level of increase in GSH content during hardening may indicate the degree of the frost tolerance of wheat

Wheat-barley hybridization – the last forty years

Abstract Several useful alien gene transfers have been reported from related species into wheat (Triticum aestivum), but very few publications have dealt with the development of wheat/barley (Hordeum vulgare) introgression lines. An overview is given here of wheat 9 barley hybridization over the last forty years, including the development of wheat 9 barley hybrids, and of addition and translocation lines with various barley cultivars. A short summary is also given of the wheat 9 barley hybrids produced with other Hordeum species. The meiotic pairing behaviour of wheat 9 barley hybrids is presented, with special regard to the detection of wheat– barley homoeologous pairing using the molecular cytogenetic technique GISH. The effect of in vitro multiplication on the genome composition of intergeneric hybrids is discussed, and the production and characterization of the latest wheat/barley translocation lines are presented. An overview of the agronomical traits (b-glucan content, earliness, salt tolerance, sprouting resistance, etc.) of the newly developed introgression lines is given. The exploitation and possible use of wheat/barley introgression lines for the most up-to-date molecular genetic studies (transcriptome analysis, sequencing of flow-sorted chromosomes) are also discussed

Transcriptome Analysis of the Vernalization Response in Barley (Hordeum vulgare) Seedlings

Temperate cereals, such as wheat (Triticum spp.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), respond to prolonged cold by becoming more tolerant of freezing (cold acclimation) and by becoming competent to flower (vernalization). These responses occur concomitantly during winter, but vernalization continues to influence development during spring. Previous studies identified VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) as a master regulator of the vernalization response in cereals. The extent to which other genes contribute to this process is unclear. In this study the Barley1 Affymetrix chip was used to assay gene expression in barley seedlings during short or prolonged cold treatment. Gene expression was also assayed in the leaves of plants after prolonged cold treatment, in order to identify genes that show lasting responses to prolonged cold, which might contribute to vernalization-induced flowering. Many genes showed altered expression in response to short or prolonged cold treatment, but these responses differed markedly. A limited number of genes showed lasting responses to prolonged cold treatment. These include genes known to be regulated by vernalization, such as VRN1 and ODDSOC2, and also contigs encoding a calcium binding protein, 23-KD jasmonate induced proteins, an RNase S-like protein, a PR17d secretory protein and a serine acetyltransferase. Some contigs that were up-regulated by short term cold also showed lasting changes in expression after prolonged cold treatment. These include COLD REGULATED 14B (COR14B) and the barley homologue of WHEAT COLD SPECIFIC 19 (WSC19), which were expressed at elevated levels after prolonged cold. Conversely, two C-REPEAT BINDING FACTOR (CBF) genes showed reduced expression after prolonged cold. Overall, these data show that a limited number of barley genes exhibit lasting changes in expression after prolonged cold treatment, highlighting the central role of VRN1 in the vernalization response in cereals

Light and Temperature Signalling at the Level of CBF14 Gene Expression in Wheat and Barley

The wheat and barley CBF14 genes have been newly defined as key components of the light quality-dependent regulation of the freezing tolerance by the integration of phytochrome-mediated light and temperature signals. To further investigate the wavelength dependence of light-induced CBF14 expression in cereals, we carried out a detailed study using monochromatic light treatments at an inductive and a non-inductive temperature. Transcript levels of CBF14 gene in winter wheat Cheyenne, winter einkorn G3116 and winter barley Nure genotypes were monitored. We demonstrated that (1) CBF14 is most effectively induced by blue light and (2) provide evidence that this induction does not arise from light-controlled CRY gene expression. (3) We demonstrate that temperature shifts induce CBF14 transcription independent of the light conditions and that (4) the effect of temperature and light treatments are additive. Based on these data, it can be assumed that temperature and light signals are relayed to the level of CBF14 expression via separate signalling routes