Applicability of chromosome-specific SSR wheat markers for the introgression of Triticum urartu in durum wheat breeding programmes

Triticum urartu, the A-genome donor of tetraploid and hexaploid wheats, is a potential source of novel alleles for crop improvement. A fertile amphiploid between T. urartu (2n=2x=14; AuAu) and durum wheat cv 'Yavaros' (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum; 2n=4x=28, AABB) was obtained as a first step to making the genetic variability of the wild ancestor available to durum wheat breeding. The amphiploid was backcrossed with 'Yavaros' and the offspring from this cross was selfed. A plant from this progeny (founder line) with 28 chromosomes and active x and y subunits of the Glu-A1 locus of T. urartu was selfed, which resulted in the obtaining of 98 pre-introgression lines (pre-ILs). In this work, a set of 78 wheat chromosome-specific microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeats, SSR), uniformly distributed over the A genome, was used for marker-assisted selection of T. urartu in a durum wheat background. A total of 57 SSRs allowed a clear discrimination between T. urartu and 'Yavaros'. This set of markers was further used for characterizing the pre-ILs, identifying and defining the T. urartu introgressed regions. The applicability of these markers is discussed. © 2011 NIAB.This work has been performed with the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2009-11359) and the Consejería Economía, Innovación y Ciencia of the Junta de Andalucía (P09-AGR-4817) and FEDER. C. R.-S. acknowledges financial support from CSIC (JAE-Doc program).Peer Reviewe