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Title: Agronomic Performance of Low Phytic Acid Wheat

Author
item GUTTIERI, MARY - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item PETERSON, KAREN - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item Souza, Edward

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/22/2006
Publication Date: 11/21/2006
Citation: Guttieri, M., Peterson, K., Souza, E.J. 2006. Agronomic Performance of Low Phytic Acid Wheat. Crop Science. 46:2623-2629.

Interpretive Summary: Reducing phytic acid in wheat has the potential to improve human nutrition through increasing the available magnesium and phosphorus in foods made from wheat. Magnesium deficiency is well documented within North America and has been linked with osteoporosis, as well as with insulin resistance and increased risk for Type II diabetes. This research documents that reducing the phytic acid in wheat significantly reduces grain yield in some genetic backgrounds but has no effect on grain yield in others. Effects on other agronomic traits such as height and heading date are dependent on environment and genetic background.

Technical Abstract: Low phytic acid (LPA) genotypes of wheat are one approach to improving the nutritional quality of wheat by reducing the concentration of phytic acid in the aleurone layer, thus reducing the chelation of nutritionally important minerals and improving the bioavailability of phosphorus. Field studies were conducted at Aberdeen and Tetonia, ID in 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the effects of the LPA genotype on the agronomic performance of wheat. These studies included wild-type and LPA genotypes in hard red spring, hard white spring, and soft white spring wheat genetic backgrounds. In the hard red spring genetic background, LPA genotypes had delayed development and reduced grain yield (8 to 25%) in the high yield environment, in part due to reduced kernel size (up to 3 mg kernel-1). In the hard white spring genetic background, differences in crop development and grain yield were not observed; however, in the high yield environment LPA genotypes produced smaller kernels (2.0 to 2.4 mg kernel-1). In the soft white spring genetic background, LPA genotypes developed earlier, but grain yield of LPA genotypes was reduced 20-24% in the high yield environment. However, LPA kernels, on average, were heavier and larger in diameter than wild-type kernels. The absence of consistent effects of the LPA genotype across the three genetic backgrounds suggests that deleterious effects of the LPA genotype may be mitigated by plant breeding.