Organic farming contributes to sustain healthy ecosystems, but challenges such as lower crop yields and supply of the nitrogen needs of crops remain. Wheat is the most important organic arable crop in Europe and grain protein content is the main quality trait also for grading organic wheat despite that high baking quality can be also realized at lower protein contents. Hence, breeding of organic wheat varieties that realize a stable high grain protein content even at lower nitrogen availability is of utmost importance to guarantee income of organic wheat growers. A major QTL for high grain protein content was identified in wild emmer and transferred into bread wheat. We tested six different wheat genetic backgrounds varying for the presence/absence of the functional Gpc-B1 allele in multi-location trials in Central Europe for their performance under organic growing. The increase in grain protein content caused by the functional Gpc-B1 allele was present in almost all genetic backgrounds, however, was not consistent across all tested quality traits. None the less, the functional Gpc-B1 allele may play a major role to increase the stability of organic wheat to reach minimum requirements by traders and processors with respect to grain protein content.

Food illnesses can occur due to the presence of human pathogen contaminants in fresh farm products. Herbs, vegetables and fruits, especially from organic agriculture, are highly exposed to animal and human pathogens. However, safe microbial antagonists, approved for plant protection, could be a solution to prevent this health risk to occur. The aim of this study is to reveal several beneficial bacterial strains reducing the prevalence of human and animal pathogens. Tested beneficial strains were previously described as promising biocontrol agents against soilborne pathogens of field crops and vegetables. Moreover, their endophyte adaptation, ensures an intimate relation with their plant hosts. Therefore, within this study we analyzed the inhibitory activity of seven biocontrol endophytes against 24 reference bacterial strains, of which 19 important human and animal pathogens. Some of the tested beneficial strains revealed antibacterial activity against a wide spectrum of pathogens, such as: Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Listeria ivanovii, L. monocytogenes, Rhodococcus equi, Salmonella enterica, S. typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Streptococcus pyogenes. Due to their antagonistic activity, the beneficial strains were studied through molecular techniques to reveal their functional genes involved in antimicrobial compounds synthesis. Genes encoding for iturin A, surfactin, bacilysin, bacillomycin and bacillaene were found in these biocontrol strains. Therefore, we could consider such beneficial strains as promising candidates for plant protection and human safety.

Stresses associated proteins (SAPs), a fast emerging class of zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs), are composed of special types (A20/AN1) of ZFP domains and were identified for the first time in rice as products of multiple stress responsive genes. SAPs are potential candidates for biotechnological approaches in order to improve abiotic stress tolerance in plants - the ultimate aim of which is crop-yield protection. In wheat there is a member of the stress association protein (SAP) gene family, named TaSAP1-A1 (located on chromosome 7A), involved in response to several abiotic stresses including drought, salt and cold.We analysed 33 European winter wheat cultivars using the markers T7AM5, T7AM2606 and T7AM39, developed by Chang et al. (2013), and located in the promoter region of TaSAP1-A1 gene. Compared to Chang study, our analysis revealed different sizes for the PCR products obtained with T7AM5 and T7AM2606 markers. Furthermore, digestion of PCR product obtained with T7AM5 marker revealed the existence of a new allelic variant (present in four cultivars). Results showed that Hap II is the main haplotype, present in 18 cultivars (55%). Hap II was found to be significantly associated (p<0.05) with thousand kernel weight (TKW).

Soybean is an important source of plant protein used in human diets. Cadmium (Cd) from agricultural soil is a toxic metal for plants, including soybean. Furthermore, the cadmium is taken up to seeds of soybean and becomes a risk for animals and human by feed and food chain. A method to avoid this risk is represented by the selection and breeding soybean lines/cultivars with genetic potential to minimized cadmium accumulation. This work reports an approach assisted by DNA-markers for selection of soybean cultivars with low Cd-accumulation. In this study, we screened the alleles of Cda1 gene, in 22 soybean cultivars, using three DNA markers (SSR-Sack149, Gm-dCAPS-HMA1 and Cda1-KASP). The results showed that 11 genotypes carried the allele for low cadmium accumulation, 8 genotypes had the allele for high cadmium accumulation and three genotypes were heterozygous/heterogenous. All three markers classified the soybean genotypes in the same manner but KASP marker is more efficient in marker-assisted selection/breeding for Cda1. This study offers valuable information to breeders and other researches regarding the selection of soybean germplasm with low cadmium accumulation in the pursuit of reducing the Cd-accumulation and assuring the food safety worldwide.

Wheat continues to be one of the most cultivated cereals in the world. The research undertaken to find new genetic resources and new favourable alleles are a priority in wheat breeding programs. Increasing genetic diversity is necessary to cope with the social, natural and economic challenges. Rye (Secale cereale L.) represents an important genetic resource for wheat breeding. The short arm of the rye chromosome 1 (1RS) contains several genes inducing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, increase yield and better adaptation to various environments. Therefore, identification of new tools for detection/selection of favourable alleles can help obtaining fast and reliable results. Molecular markers-SSRs are such convenient tools. In our study, conducted on 17 genotypes (rye cultivar - Harkovskaya; five Romanian wheat cultivars; four 1AL.1RS translocation genotypes, including “Amigo” derived from “Insave” rye, and seven 1BL.1RS translocation), we used SSR markers to detect the presence of 1RS translocation. We found that the SSR-TSM 106(~170bp) marker clearly distinguished the wheat-rye 1AL.1RS translocation, coming from “Insave” or related rye chromatin, from the wheat-rye 1BL.1RS translocation, coming from other rye sources. Therefore, SSR-TSM marker could be used in MAS (Marker-Assisted Selection) for 1AL.1RS translocation.