The foliar N application at a low rate is a strategy that could be applied by farmers in substitution to the traditional late soil application when there are restrictions on N distribution. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of late‐season N fertilization strategies on wheat (Triticum spp.) quality. Field experiments were set up in two different soils, in Northwest Italy. The effect of N fertilization was evaluated on two common (T. aestivum L.) and two durum wheat (T. turgidum L. var. durum Desf.) cultivars. Late‐season N was soil‐applied (40 kg N ha⁻¹) as ammonium nitrate at heading, or foliar sprayed (5 kg N ha⁻¹) at flowering, and compared with a control without N fertilization after the vegetative growth stage. Nitrogen soil application increased grain protein content (GPC) (+15%) for both crops. This fertilization strategy led also to higher test weight (+1.4%), kernel hardness (+14%), dough strength (W) (+42%), and lower tenacity/extensibility ratio P/L (–18%) in the common wheat, and to a lower yellowberry percentage in the durum wheat (–29%). The strategy to apply a foliar N fertilizer at anthesis at a lower rate, although it has a greater cost effectiveness, led to a less effective bread‐ or pasta‐making quality enhancement, with an average increase of GPC and W only in the silt loam soil by 5 and 18%, respectively. This strategy could lead to more successful increase of GPC in soils with a probable lower nitrate leaching during the vegetative stages.

Two molecular maps of Triticum monococcum L were produced and integrated. The integrated map includes a total of 477 markers, 32 RFLPs, 438 AFLPs, one morphological (soft glume (Sog)) and six storage-protein markers, and covers 856 cM. The trait Sog with the recessive allele sog maps to linkage group 2S. Probably, this is the T. monococcum homologue of Tg and Tg2 in hexaploid and tetraploid wheats, respectively. Loci coding for seed storage proteins were allocated to chromosomes 1L (HMW GLU1,2 and Glu1), 1S (LMW GLU6,7, LMW GLU1-4, ωGLI1-4, γGLI5 and Gli-1) and 6L (α/βGLI7-14). Parameters related to bread-making quality (SDS sedimentation volume, specific sedimentation volume (SSV) and total protein content) were studied in one of the two populations. A QTL that is consistently present across environments was detected for SDS sedimentation volume and for SSV. The position of the QTL on chromosome 1S was in close agreement with the map positions of storage-protein loci. A second QTL was mapped on chromosome 5. For protein content, two significant QTLs were mapped to linkage groups 1 and 5.

Salinity is increasingly considered as a major environmental issue, which threatens agricultural production by decreasing yield traits of crops. Seed priming is a useful and cost‐effective technique to alleviate the negative effects of salinity and to enable a fast and uniform germination. In this context, we quantified the effects of priming with gibberellic acid (GP), calcium chloride (CP), and mannitol (MP) on seed germination of three bread wheat cultivars and investigated their response when grown at high salinity conditions (200 mM NaCl). Salt exposure strongly repressed seed imbibition and germination potential and extended germination time, whereas priming enhanced uniformity and seed vigor. Seed preconditioning alleviated the germination disruption caused by salt stress to varying degrees. Priming mitigating effect was agent‐dependent with regard to water status (CP and MP), ionic imbalance (CP), and seed reserve mobilization (GP). Na⁺ accumulation in seedling tissues significantly impaired carbohydrate and protein mobilization by inhibiting amylase and proteases activities but had lesser effects on primed seeds. CP attenuated ionic imbalance by limiting sodium accumulation. Gibberellic acid was the most effective priming treatment for promoting the germination of wheat seeds under salt stress. Moreover, genotypic differences in wheat response to salinity stress were observed between varieties used in this study. Ardito, the oldest variety, seems to tolerate better salinity in priming‐free conditions; Aubusson resulted the most salt‐sensitive cultivar but showed a high germination recovery under priming conditions; Bologna showed an intermediate behavior.

The celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory condition characterized by injury to the lining of the small-intestine on exposure to the gluten of wheat, barley and rye. The involvement of gluten in the CD syndrome has been studied in detail in bread wheat, where a set of “toxic” and “immunogenic” peptides has been defined. For wheat diploid species, information on CD epitopes is poor. In the present paper, we have adopted a genomic approach in order to understand the potential CD danger represented by storage proteins in diploid wheat and sequenced a sufficiently large number of cDNA clones related to storage protein genes of Triticum monococcum. Four bona fide toxic peptides and 13 immunogenic peptides were found. All the classes of storage proteins were shown to contain harmful sequences. The major conclusion is that einkorn has the full potential to induce the CD syndrome, as already evident for polyploid wheats. In addition, a complete overview of the storage protein gene arsenal in T. monococcum is provided, including a full-length HMW x-type sequence and two partial HMW y-type sequences.