Deciphering heat wave effects on wheat grain: focusing on the starch fraction.

Wheat is an essential staple food, and its production and grain quality are affected by extreme temperature events. These effects are even more relevant considering the increasing food demand for a growing world population and the predicted augmented frequency of heat waves. This study investigated the impact of simulated heat wave (HW) conditions imposed during grain filling on starch granule characteristics, endosperm ultrastructure, and transcriptomic modulation of genes involved in starch synthesis and degradation.

Grain Transcriptome Dynamics Induced by Heat in Commercial and Traditional Bread Wheat Genotypes.

High temperature (HT) events have negative impact on wheat grains yield and quality. Transcriptome profiles of wheat developing grains of commercial genotypes (Antequera and Bancal) and landraces (Ardito and Magueija) submitted to heatwave-like treatments during grain filling were evaluated. Landraces showed significantly more differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and presented more similar responses than commercial genotypes.

Assessment of Four Portuguese Wheat Landrace Diversity to Cope With Global Warming.

Wheat is a dietary staple consumed worldwide strongly responsible for proteins and carbohydrate population intake. However, wheat production and quality will scarcely fulfill forward demands, which are compounded by high-temperature (HT) events as heatwaves, increasingly common in Portugal. Thus, landraces assume crucial importance as potential reservoirs of useful traits for wheat breeding and may be pre-adapted to extreme environmental conditions.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Vicia faba L. Landraces and Wild Related Species Assessed by Nuclear SSRs.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a facultative cross-pollinating legume crop with a great importance for food and feed due to its high protein content as well as the important role in soil fertility and nitrogen fixation. In this work we evaluated genetic diversity and population structure of faba bean accessions from the Western Mediterranean basin and wild related species.

Use of Repetitive Sequences for Molecular and Cytogenetic Characterization of Avena Species from Portugal.

Genomic diversity of Portuguese accessions of Avena species--diploid A. strigosa and hexaploids A. sativa and A.

Involvement of disperse repetitive sequences in wheat/rye genome adjustment.

The union of different genomes in the same nucleus frequently results in hybrid genotypes with improved genome plasticity related to both genome remodeling events and changes in gene expression. Most modern cereal crops are polyploid species. Triticale, synthesized by the cross between wheat and rye, constitutes an excellent model to study polyploidization functional implications.