Wheat-rye translocations 1RS.1BL and 1RS.1AL are used in bread wheat breeding worldwide because a short arm of rye chromosome 1 (1RS) when introgressed into the wheat genome confers resistance to diseases, pests and better performance under drought-stress conditions. However, in durum wheat genotypes, these translocations occur only in experimental lines, although their advantages could enhance the potential of this crop. P.P. Lukyanenko National Grain Centre (NGC) has successfully developed commercially competitive cultivars of bread and durum wheat demanded by many agricultural producers in the South of Russia for decades. Here, 94 accessions of bread and 343 accessions of durum wheat, representing lines and cultivars from collection, competitive variety trials and breeding nursery developed at NGC were screened for 1RS using PCR markers and genomic in situ hybridization. The 1RS.1BL and 1RS.1AL translocations were detected in 38 and 6 bread wheat accessions, respectively. None of the durum wheat accessions showed translocation, despite the fact that some of them had 1RS.1BL donors in their pedigree. The absence of translocations in the studied durum wheat germplasm can be caused by the negative selection of 1RS carriers at different stages of the breeding process due to low quality and difficulties in transferring rye chromatin through wheat gametes.

The Growth-regulating factors (GRF) are a family of plant-specific transcription factors that have roles in plant growth, development and stress response. In this study the diversity of the TaGRF3-2A (TraesCS2A02G435100) gene was investigated in Russian bread wheat germplasm by means of next generation sequencing and molecular markers, and the results compared with those from multiple wheat genome and exome sequencing projects. The results showed that an allele possessing c.495G>T polymorphism found in Bezostaya 1 and designated as TaGRF3-2Ab, is connected with earlier heading and better grain filling under conditions of the Krasnodar Krai. TaGRF3-2Ab is more frequent among Russian winter wheat cultivars than in other germplasms found in the world, implying that it is adaptive for the Chernozem region. A new rare mutation of the TaGRF3-2A was found in the spring wheat cultivar Novosibirskaya 67. The molecular markers developed will facilitate utilization of TaGRF3-2A mutations in future agronomic studies and wheat improvement. Albeit GRF3-2Ab may be good at maintaining high milling quality of the grain, it should be used with caution in breeding of winter wheat cultivars in the perspective of climate change.

Earliness is a critical agronomic trait that enables plants to avoid adverse weather conditions during the late growing season or at harvest. In wheat, earliness is controlled by at least three distinct mechanisms: vernalization requirement, photoperiod sensitivity, and a mechanism independent of the first two, so called, earliness per se. In this work we report a locus on chromosome 3B within NLP3-B1 (TraesCS3B02G190300) gene, coding a nitrate-sensitive transcription factor protein, which is associated with earliness in F_5:6 of PI-518620 x CI-17241 spring wheat cross. The variant ‘A’ of the single nucleotide polymorphism NLP3-B1: c.1824+137G>A, which is proper to evolutionary earlier haplotypes, provides heading and anthesis that is 2 days earlier. The effect of this novel marker on earliness was additive to the effect of PPD-D1 locus in the same population; however, the effect of the former was weaker. Similarly, allele Ppd-D1a and the variant ‘A’ of the NLP3-B1: c.1824+137G>A polymorphism statistically significantly reduced the plant height (for 2.2 and 1.3 cm, correspondingly) and changed some other agronomical traits; however, these light pleiotropic effects are not of practical value. The possible direct impact of NLP3-B1 on the timing of flowering via altered nitrate sensitivity has been discussed, and other candidate genes on chromosome 3B have also been suggested.

Dasypyrum villosum is an annual cereal used as a donor of agronomic traits for wheat. Productivity is one of the most important traits that breeding is aimed at. It is a very complex trait, the formation of which is influenced by many different factors, both internal (the genotype of the plant) and external. The genes responsible for the gibberellin sensitivity played a large role in multiplying yields of cereal crops. Another such gene is the Gid1, which encodes a receptor for gibberellins. This article compares the DNA sequences of the Gid1 gene obtained from six Dasypyrum villosum samples. Using a sequence of wheat and rye taken from the GenBank database (NCBI), we selected primers for regions of different genomes (A, B, and D subgenomes of wheat and the R genome of rye), and carried out a polymerase chain reaction on D. villosum accessions of diverse geographical origin. The resulting PCR product was sequenced by an NGS method. Based on the assembled sequences, DNA markers have been created that make it possible to differentiate these genes of the V genome and homologous genes of wheat origin. Using monosomic addition, substitution, and translocation wheat lines, the localization of the Gid1 gene of D. villosum was established on the long arm of the first V chromosome. A phenotypic assessment of common wheat lines carrying substituted, translocated, or added D. villosum chromosomes in their karyotype was performed. Tendency of disappearance of the first chromosome of D. villosum in the lines with added chromosomes was revealed.