Selection of winter cereals for organic agriculture

Productivity in agriculture has more than tripled in developed countries since the 1950s. Beyond the success of plant breeding, the increased use of inorganic fertilizers, application of pesticides, and spread of irrigation also contributed to this success. However, impressive yield increases started to decline in the 1980s because of the lack of sustainability. One of the most beneficial ways to increase sustainability is organic agriculture. In such systems the prerequisite of successful farming is the availability of crop genotypes that perform well. However, selection of winter cereals for sub-optimal growing conditions is still neglected, and the organic seed market also lacks of information on credibly tested varieties suitable for organic agriculture

The identification of wheat genetic resources with high dietary fiber content

The quality properties of different variety mixtures and composite cross populations were studied with the aim of identifying genotypes with high dietary fiber content and to cultivate and examine the effect of these components on the end-use quality. Based on the results of a Europe-wide trial, we could detect two populations and variety mixtures which had significantly higher total (TOTAX) and water extractable arabinoxylan (WEAX) content, than most of the studied genotypes, with positive effect on the human health. These populations/mixtures are promising dietary fiber resources and suitable not only for organic but also for conventional farming, especially in Central Europe. The seeds of the best population (Mv Elit CCP) was multiplied to supply it for interested farmers in Hungary in the frame of the European trial on organic heterogeneous materials

A gabona levéltetvek hatása a búza sütőipari minőségére = Effect of cereal aphids on the baking quality of wheat flour

Szárbaindulás kezdetén történt drótkeretre feszített vektorháló anyaggal a 10-12 hajtást tartalmazó búzacsomók izolálása. Az izolátorok kihelyezését követően Diuraphis noxia, Rhopalosiphum padi, Sitobion avenae 5-5 szárnyatlan imágó egyedével történt a növények mesterséges levéltetű fertőzése. A puhaszemű Mv 17 fajta kalászhossza, kalászonkénti szemszáma, kalászonkénti szemtömege és a szemek átlagos tömege szignifikánsan csökkent kalászos hajtásonként 2-3 S. avenae táplálkozása következtében. A búzaliszt SE HPLC-vel meghatározott gliadin, glutenin és összes fehérje tartalma szignifikánsan nőtt a levéltetvek kártétele következtében. A gliadin és glutenin tartalom eltérő növekedése szignifikáns gliadin/glutenin arány csökkenést eredményezett, mely a sütőipari minőség egyik legfontosabb mutatója. A keményszemű Mv Magvas és Mv Magdaléna búza fajták kalászhossza és kalászonkénti szemszáma az utolsó év kivételével nem változott a levéltetű fertőzés hatására. A nagy egyedszámú D. noxia szignifikáns kalászonkénti szemtömeg és átlagos szemtömeg csökkenést eredményezett mindkét fajtán. A jóval kisebb egyedszámú S. avenae táplálkozása ugyanezt eredményezte. A keményszemű búza fajták gliadin, glutenin és összes fehérje tartalma szignifikánsan nőtt a levéltetvek táplálkozása következtében, de a gliadin/glutenin arány nem csökkent. A két keményszemű fajta gliadin, glutenin és összes fehérje tartalma valamint gliadin/glutenin aránya szignifikánsan különbözött. | Wheat plants (T. aestivum L; soft cultivar Mv 17; hard cultvs. Mv Magdaléna, Mv Magvas) were caged at the beginning of stem elongation (providing various isolation levels) and later artificially infected with respective aphid species (indigenous sp. M. dirhodum, S. avenae, R. padi; invasive sp. D. noxia). During development aphid number assessment was performed to correlate quantitative and qualitative results. Flours from grains of infected plants were analyzed for gluten proteins(glutenins, gliadins governing bread-making quality), albumins+globulins content by SE-HPLC. In Mv 17 cultv. both the glutenin and gliadin content was significantly higher in the seeds harvested from aphid infected plants. The gliadin/glutenin ratio was significantly lower in wheat flour prepared from infected plants than in from uninfected control. The most remarkable decrease in gliadin/glutenin ratio was caused by M. dirhodum, D. noxia, S. avenae infection followed by R. padi at high-abundance and low-abundance, respectively. Quality parameters of flour from hard kernel types are different. Feeding does not induce significant reduction in the gliadin, total protein content and gliadin/glutenin ratio. The glutenin content of cultv. Mv Magvas was significantly reduced by lower number of aphids, regardless of the species. Both quantitative and qualitative characters of the flours are significantly affected by plant sucking aphids in case of soft and less significantly in hard kernel cultvs

Performance and selection of winter durum wheat genotypes in different European conventional and organic fields

Sustainability is a key factor for the future of agriculture. Productivity in agriculture has more than tripled in developed countries since the 1950s. Beyond the success of plant breeding, the increased use of inorganic fertilizers, application of pesticides, and spread of irrigation also contributed to this success. However, impressive yield increases started to decline in the 1980s because of the lack of sustainability. One of the most beneficial ways to increase sustainability is organic agriculture. In such agro-ecosystem-based holistic production systems the prerequisite of successful farming is the availability of crop genotypes that perform well. However, selection of winter durum wheat for sub-optimal growing conditions is still mainly neglected, and the organic seed market also lacks of information on credibly tested winter durum varieties suitable for organic agriculture

Búza transzformáció | Wheat transformation

Az elmúlt évtizedben a növényi biotechnológiában bekövetkezett módszertani fejlődés eredményeként lehetővé vált gyökeresen új növénynemesítési programok tervezése és elindítása. A transzgénikus növények előállítása komplex folyamat, ami magában foglalja az idegen DNS molekulák bejuttatását a sejtekbe, ezen nukleotid szekvenciák integrációját a gazdasejt DNS-ébe és a bevitt gén követhető kifejeződését. A transzformáció módszere lehetőséget kínál többek között olyan gazdaságilag fontos gének bevitelére a búzanövénybe, melyekkel növelhető a rezisztencia biotikus és abiotikus stresszel szemben, a felhasználói igényeknek megfelelően változtatható a tészta technológiai minősége, javítható a búzafehérjék táplálkozástani értéke, továbbá amelyekkel növelhető a növényekben a vitaminok, vagy olyan mikroelemek mennyisége is, mint pl. a vas, vagy a cink. A számos módszertani nehézség és a fogyasztói reakciók miatt, a növényi transzformáció módszerében még további jelentős fejlődés várható a közeljövőben. Ez a szemle a szerzők angol nyelven megjelent összefoglalójának (Rakszegi et al. 2001) a legújabb eredményekkel bővített változata. | Plant biotechnology offers many new opportunities for breeders to solve certain breeding problems at the molecular level. The tissue culture methodology and the molecular genetic modification of economically important monocotyledons have undergone a revolution in the last decade. As the production of transgenic plants is a complex procedure including the uptake of DNA molecules into the cells, the integration of these nucleotide sequences into the host DNA and the expression of new genes in a controlled way, and as there are still many unsolved questions, further development is necessary. The methodology opens up the possibility of introducing novel genes that may induce resistance to diseases and abiotic stresses, allow the modification of dough quality and the dietetic quality of proteins, and increase the levels of micronutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamins. The present review is an updated Hungarian version of the summary of the most important advances in wheat transformation published by the authors in English (Rakszegi et al. 2001)

Comparison of bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under organic and low input management

The aims of the study were to compare 37 bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under conventional and organic farming conditions in Hungary and Austria for three years and to identify traits highly sensitive to management systems that could be separated according to their suggested selecting environments. According to the results, heading date, sensitivity to leaf rust and powdery mildew had high heritability, thus, for economic reasons, it is reasonable to select for these traits in conventional fields even if the selection target is organic agriculture. On the contrary, selection for grain yield, test weight, leaf-inclination and vigorous growth should be done later in the target environment. It was concluded that the selecting environment has measurable effects on the performance of bread wheat varieties. Our results could help organic breeders in their selection work, especially in the continental climatic zone of Europe

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