The utilization of wheat genetic resources in breeding for bread-making quality

Abstract

This paper describes the structure and content of the Czech wheat germplasm collection. The collection, at present, includes 10 800 wheat accessions. Evaluation data, of variable content are available on 73% of the accessions, pedigree data on 80% of released cultivars. The annual distribution of seed samples to users amounts to about 1200 accessions. Attention is paid to increasing the value of the collection for users by way of deeper evaluation and choice of donors for important characters. With this intention, 8 modern cultivars (most of them with high bread-making quality) and 20 genetic lines derived from European landraces and obsolete cultivars were tested in field trials carried out over two years in Prague-Ruzyně. As expected, modern cultivars were superior in almost all of the agronomic characters evaluated. However, older lines showed significantly higher protein contents, and some of them also had a higher wet gluten content, gluten index and Zeleny sedimentation volume. However, low variability was found for starch content. Some lines with high protein content had an acceptable productivity, and could also meet acceptable levels for other quality characters. Satisfactory performance was found in lines such as Viglašská červenoklasá 12/B, Szekacz 19 37/B, Mindeszentpusztai 44/B, Szekacz 1242 47/E, Ukrajinka 52/A and Eszterhazi Mindenes 117/C. Among the new, more productive cultivars, Bohemia, RU 440-6 and Akteur combine high quality of gluten with relatively higher protein content. Selected genotypes will be further tested in a broader range of environments.