ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3819
Session = 11.19.5


TRANSFORMATION OF ELITE WHEAT VARIETIES FOR IMPROVED END-USE QUALITIES


Huw D Jones B&P IACR-Rothamsted UK.


Over 500 million tonnes of wheat grain is harvested annually, and this forms a significant part of the world's food and animal feed requirements. Of the three major cereal staples, wheat was the last to be genetically transformed in 1992. Since then, procedures to transform temperate cereals by particle bombardment of embryogenic cultures derived from inflorescence or scutella tissue have been developed at IACR-Rothamsted UK. Enabling technologies, developed using model varieties have allowed transformation of a range of germplasm including eleven UK elite wheat varieties, as well as durum wheat and barley. We have generated over 300 transformed lines in over 20 wheat varieties. We are particularly interested in modifying wheat storage protein quality by manipulation of glutenin, gliadin and gamma-zein gene expression, as well reducing pre-harvest sprouting by the over-expression Viviparous 1.


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