SYNTHETIC HEXAPLOID LINES ARE VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR BIOTIC STRESS RESISTANCE IN WHEAT IMPROVEMENT

SUMMARY Synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHW) are products of crosses involving tetraploid cultivars (Triticum turgidum, 2n=28, AABB) and diploid goat grass (Aegilops tauschii, 2n=14, DD), followed by chromosome doubling of F 1 hybrids. They are genomically amphidiploids (2n=42, AABBDD), combining the genomes of their parents. SHW exhibit resistance to some biotic factors, mainly fungi and insects, and may serve as valuable resources in wheat breeding. They can be involved in backcrosses with elite bread wheat cultivars to produce lines with superior quality, disease resistance and yield. In this review, we summarize the published data for biotic stress resistance in synthetic wheats and the potential use of synthetic-derived backcrossed lines in bread and durum wheat breeding. The exotic genes, controlling important biological traits in SHW produced so far, should contribute to the development of new wheat varieties.