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Wheat represents one of the most important cereals for mankind. However, since wheat proteins are also the causative agent of several adverse reactions, during the last decades, consumers have shown an increasing interest in the old wheat genotypes, which are generally perceived as more “natural” and healthier than the modern ones. Comparison of nutritional value for modern and old wheat genotypes is still controversial, and to evaluate the real impact of these foods on human health comparative experiments involving old and modern genotypes are desirable. The nutritional quality of grain is correlated with its proteomic composition that depends on the interplay between the genetic characteristics of the plant and external factors related to the environment. We report here the label-free shotgun quantitative comparison of the metabolic protein fractions of two old Sicilian landraces (Russello and Timilia) and the modern variety Simeto, from the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 growing seasons. The overall results show that Timilia presents the major differences with respect to the other two genotypes investigated. These differences may be related to different defense mechanisms and some other peculiar properties of these genotypes. On the other hand, our results confirm previous results leading to the conclusion that with respect to a nutritional value evaluation, there is a substantial equivalence between old and modern wheat genotypes. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier .

Choosing genotypes with a high capacity for taking up nitrogen (N) from the soil and the ability to efficiently compete with weeds for this nutrient is essential to increasing the sustainability of cropping systems that are less dependent on auxiliary inputs. This research aimed to verify whether differences exist in N uptake and N fertilizer recovery capacity among wheat genotypes and, if so, whether these differences are related to a different competitive ability against weeds of wheat genotypes. To this end, 12 genotypes, varying widely in morphological traits and year of release, were grown in the presence or absence of interspecific competition (using Avena sativa L. as a surrogate weed). Isotopic tracer (15)N was used to measure the fertilizer N uptake efficiencies of the wheat genotypes and weed. A field experiment, a split-plot design with four replications, was conducted during two consecutive growing seasons in a typical Mediterranean environment. In the absence of interspecific competition, few differences in either total N uptake (range: 98-112 kg N ha(-1)) or the (15)N fertilizer recovery fraction (range: 30.0-36.7%) were observed among the wheat genotypes. The presence of competition, compared to competitor-free conditions, resulted in reductions in grain yield (49%), total N uptake (29%), and an (15)N fertilizer recovery fraction (32%) that were on average markedly higher in modern varieties than in old ones. Both biomass and grain reductions were strongly related to the biomass of the competitor (correlation coefficients > 0.95), which ranged from 135 to 573 g m(-2). Variations in both grain and biomass yield due to interspecific competition were significantly correlated with percentage of soil cover and leaf area at tillering, plant height at heading, and total N uptake, thus highlighting that the ability to take up N from the soil played a certain role in determining the different competitive abilities against weed of the genotypes.

The effect of durum wheat breeding on technological quality was mainly investigated in relation to allelic polymorphism, in particular for glutenins, while fewer information are available on the changes in grain protein proportion. In the present investigation, an old and a modern group of durum wheat genotypes, grown in Mediterranean environment, were evaluated for grain protein composition, according to Osborne extraction procedure. In modern genotypes, a higher relative content of soluble glutenin was observed which might contribute to their better technological performance. Moreover, a slight decrease both in the amount of gliadin fraction, mainly responsible for gluten related disorders, and in the monomeric to polymeric protein ratio was observed in the modern durum wheat varieties. Among the genotypes investigated, Svevo and Saragolla, showed the lowest gliadin and the highest glutenin content, while the old genotypes Cappelli showed an opposite behaviour.

In many world regions, osmotic and salt stresses are becoming the primary environmental conditions limiting successful establishment of crops. The old durum wheat landraces may provide a source of genes useful to enhance crop resilience to the abiotic stresses of dryland areas or foreseen as a result of climate change. With this in mind, in order to determine the effects of salt and osmotic stresses on durum wheat germination, an old Sicilian durum wheat landrace “Timilia” and a relatively recent cultivar “Mongibello” were investigated at various iso-osmotic solutions of NaCl and mannitol at osmotic potentials of: 0 − control, −0.125, −0.250, −0.500 and −0.750 MPa. Under stress conditions, different germination and early growth behavior was observed in the two durum wheat genotypes. Timilia presented almost stable germination even at the highest osmotic stresses (96.7% and 88.3% seed germination at 0 and −0.750 MPa, respectively) showing a higher capacity of seed imbibition than Mongibello. The latter thus showed a higher sensitivity than the old landrace to the studied stresses. The variability ascertained in the response to salinity stress indicate that Timilia could be a source of interesting genes for breeding programs.

In wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) several studies have reported genetic gain for grain yield over the years. However, studies on wheat bread-making quality are scarce. Our objective was to estimate the progress due to genetic and environmental components in wheat breadmaking quality parameters. In addition, we aimed to examine trends in historical cultivars and associate traits performance with geographical parameters. We used data from multi-environment trials (MET) represented by eight years (2005-2012) and 458 genotypes, including lines and commercial cultivars (controls). We determined the genetic progress by the contrasts between genotypes assessed in each biennium, excluding the year effect. This effect is previously estimated by existing variation among common genotypes. Genotype replacement rate was 52% and reflects the dynamism of the breeding program to develop better genotypes in terms of bread-making quality. The genetic progress estimated for gluten strength (W) was 1.30% yr-1. The progress in W demonstrated to be partly counterbalanced by the environmental effect (-0.78% yr-1). We observed disequilibrium tendency in relationship between tenacity and extensibility (P/L ratio) as a consequence of searching for lines with high W. Analysis showed that P/L ratio can be reduced in responses to the increase in latitude of the location. Environmental and genetic effects on the traits variation were discussed.