The wheat plants were pretreated with the selective herbicide Serrate^® (Syngenta) and subsequently subjected to drought or flooding stress for 7 days. The gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll a fluorescence and leaf pigment content were measured. The measurements were performed during the stress period and after 4 days of plants recovery. Herbicide pretreatment did not cause significant alterations in photosynthesis and fluorescence parameters in alone- or combined-treated seedlings. A significant reduction in gas exchange parameters (net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency), F_v/F_m and F_v/F₀ values during drought or flooding was observed. The disruption of photosynthesis together with reduction in the pigment content was stronger in droughted than flooded plants. When the normal irrigation was restored, the gas exchange and fluorescence parameters tended to increase. The comparative analysis of recovery and resilience indices of photosynthetic traits indicate that the plants subjected to drought recovered better than those subjected to flooding stress.

Grain protein content (GPC) is a key aspect of grain quality, a major determinant of the flour functional properties and grain nutritional value of bread wheat. Exploiting diverse germplasms to identify genes for improving crop performance and grain nutritional quality is needed to enhance food security. Here, we evaluated GPC in a panel of 255 Triticum aestivum L. accessions from 27 countries. GPC determined in seeds from three consecutive crop seasons varied from 8.6 to 16.4% (11.3% on average). Significant natural phenotypic variation in GPC among genotypes and seasons was detected. The population was evaluated for the presence of the trait-linked single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers via a genome-wide association study (GWAS). GWAS analysis conducted with calculated best linear unbiased estimates (BLUEs) of phenotypic data and 90 K SNP array using the fixed and random model circulating probability unification (FarmCPU) model identified seven significant genomic regions harboring GPC-associated markers on chromosomes 1D, 3A, 3B, 3D, 4B and 5A, of which those on 3A and 3B shared associated SNPs with at least one crop season. The verified SNP–GPC associations provide new promising genomic signals on 3A (SNPs: Excalibur_c13709_2568 and wsnp_Ku_c7811_13387117) and 3B (SNP: BS00062734_51) underlying protein improvement in wheat. Based on the linkage disequilibrium for significant SNPs, the most relevant candidate genes within a 4 Mbp-window included genes encoding a subtilisin-like serine protease; amino acid transporters; transcription factors; proteins with post-translational regulatory functions; metabolic proteins involved in the starch, cellulose and fatty acid biosynthesis; protective and structural proteins, and proteins associated with metal ions transport or homeostasis. The availability of molecular markers within or adjacent to the sequences of the detected candidate genes might assist a breeding strategy based on functional markers to improve genetic gains for GPC and nutritional quality in wheat.

Genetic diversity and population structure are key resources for breeding purposes and genetic studies of important agronomic traits in crops. In this study, we described SNP-based genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium and population structure in a panel of 179 bread wheat advanced cultivars and old accessions from Bulgaria, using an optimized wheat 25K Infinium iSelect array. Out of 19,019 polymorphic SNPs, 17,968 had a known chromosome position on the A (41%), B (42%) and D (11%) genome, and 6% were not assigned to any chromosome. Homoeologous group 4, in particular chromosome 4D, was the least polymorphic. In the total population, the Nei’s gene diversity was within the range 0.1–0.5, and the polymorphism information content ranged from 0.1 to 0.4. Significant differences between the old and modern collections were revealed with respect to the linkage disequilibrium (LD): the average values for LD (r²), the percentage of the locus pairs in LD and the LD decay were 0.64, 16% and 3.3 for the old germplasm, and 0.43, 30% and 4.1 for the modern releases, respectively. Structure and k-means clustering algorithm divided the panel into three groups. The old accessions formed a distinct subpopulation. The cluster analysis further distinguished the modern releases according to the geographic region and genealogy. Gene exchange was evidenced mainly between the subpopulations of contemporary cultivars. The achieved understanding of the genetic diversity and structure of the Bulgarian wheat population and distinctiveness of the old germplasm could be of interest for breeders developing cultivars with improved characteristics. The obtained knowledge about SNP informativeness and the LD estimation are worthwhile for selecting markers and for considering the composition of a population in association mapping studies of traits of interest.