Abstract

The current study focuses on yield and nutritional quality changes of wheat grain over the last 166 years. It is based on wheat grain quality analyses carried out on samples collected between 1850 and 2016. Samples were obtained from the Broadbalk Continuous Wheat Experiment (UK) and from herbaria from 16 different countries around the world. Our study showed that, together with an increase in carbohydrate content, an impoverishment of mineral composition and protein content occurred. The imbalance in carbohydrate/protein content was specially marked after the 1960’s, coinciding with strong increases in ambient [CO2] and temperature and the introduction of progressively shorter straw varieties. The implications of altered crop physiology are discussed.

Details

Title
Assessing the evolution of wheat grain traits during the last 166 years using archived samples
Author
Mariem, Sinda Ben 1 ; Gámez, Angie L 1 ; Larraya Luis 2 ; Fuertes-Mendizabal, Teresa 3 ; Cañameras Nuria 4 ; Araus, José L 5 ; McGrath, Steve P 6 ; Hawkesford, Malcolm J 7 ; Murua Carmen Gonzalez 3 ; Gaudeul Myriam 8 ; Medina, Leopoldo 9 ; Paton, Alan 10 ; Cattivelli Luigi 11 ; Fangmeier, Andreas 12 ; Bunce, James 13 ; Tausz-Posch Sabine 14 ; Macdonald, Andy J 6 ; Aranjuelo Iker 15 

1  AgroBiotechnology Institute (IdAB), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)-Government of Navarre, Mutilva, Spain 
2  Universidad Pública de Navarra, Institute for Multidisciplinary Applied Biology, Dpto. Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación, Pamplona, Spain (GRID:grid.410476.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2174 6440) 
3  University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Bilbao, Spain (GRID:grid.11480.3c) (ISNI:0000000121671098) 
4  Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain (GRID:grid.6835.8) 
5  University of Barcelona, Barcelona, and AGROTECNIO Center, Integrative Crop Ecophysiology Group, Plant Physiology Section, Faculty of Biology, Lleida, Spain (GRID:grid.5841.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0247) 
6  Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK (GRID:grid.418374.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2227 9389) 
7  Rothamsted Research, Plant Sciences, Harpenden, UK (GRID:grid.418374.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2227 9389) 
8  Sorbonne Université, Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, EPHE, UA, Paris, France (GRID:grid.462844.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 2308 1657) 
9  Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain (GRID:grid.4711.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 2183 4846) 
10  Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Kew Richmond, UK (GRID:grid.4903.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4353) 
11  Agricultural Research Council (CREA), Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Fiorenzuolad’Arda, Italy (GRID:grid.423616.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 2293 6756) 
12  University of Hohenheim, Institute of Landscape and Plant Ecology, Stuttgart, Germany (GRID:grid.9464.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2290 1502) 
13  US Department of Agriculture, Adaptive Cropping Systems Lab (Retired), Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, USA (GRID:grid.417548.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 0478 6311) 
14  CQ University Australia, Department of Agriculture, Science and the Environment, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Rockhampton, Australia (GRID:grid.1023.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2193 0854) 
15  AgroBiotechnology Institute (IdAB), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)-Government of Navarre, Mutilva, Spain (GRID:grid.418374.d) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78504-x
ProQuest document ID
2473305072
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.