A forward genetic approach to identify new loci controlling wheat starch digestibility

Zafeiriou, Petros (2022) A forward genetic approach to identify new loci controlling wheat starch digestibility. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Reducing the rate and extent of starch digestibility in wheat-based foods can help maintain healthy blood glucose levels, which is important for preventing and managing chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes). To manipulate starch digestibility in wheat (and other crops in general), there have been two key strategies, processing raw materials and modifying starch biosynthesis in planta. Both approaches have shown promise for reducing the starch digestibility of staple foods, but many challenges still remain in producing sustainable products due to increased costs of processing or penalties on yield or crop quality. A forward screening approach, which aims to identify genetic loci underpinning natural variation, opens the possibility of discovering new genes that influence starch digestibility.

This PhD project aimed to develop an improved method for measuring starch digestibility in a diverse wheat germplasm collection with the ultimate aim of discovering new loci that could be used to breed wheat varieties with improved health benefits.

To achieve this, 1) a high-throughput screening tool was developed to enable the screening of large germplasm resources; 2) the core Watkins collection, a historical collection of wheat landraces was screened and presented wide variation of starch digestibility; 3) in-depth analysis was conducted to investigate starch properties among selected low- and high-digestibility lines in sieved flour fractions and purified starch; 4) a stable low-digestibility line was selected, and a biparental mapping population was used to identify QTL for starch digestibility.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2023 13:02
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2023 13:02
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93277
DOI:

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