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Triticale

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**1. Triticale History and Taxonomy:**
Triticale was first bred in laboratories in Scotland and Germany in the late 19th century.
– Commercial triticale is typically a second-generation hybrid.
– Primary producers of triticale are Poland, Germany, Belarus, France, and Russia.
Triticale is an allotetraploid plant.
– CIMMYT had a triticale improvement program for food production in developing countries.
Triticale hybrids are classified into three nothospecies based on ploidy.
– Current treatment follows the Mac Key 2005 treatment of Triticum.
– Traditional classifications were based on a narrow species concept.
– Genome notation follows the Taxonomy of wheat.
Rye genome is notated as ‘R’.
– Colchicine was used to double the chromosomes in triticale.
– Earlier triticale hybrids had reproductive disorders.

**2. Cultivation, Usage, and Commercial Significance:**
Triticale is grown for forage or fodder.
Protein content in triticale is higher than wheat.
Triticale has potential in bread and other food products.
Triticale is well-established as a feed grain.
– Research is ongoing for the use of triticale biomass in bioethanol production.
Triticale has become a commercially viable crop.
– It combines the yield potential of wheat with the environmental tolerance of rye.
– Triticale-based foods are available in health food stores.
– Milling techniques for wheat need adaptation for triticale.
Triticale has been used to produce vodka.

**3. Breeding Approaches and Genetic Studies:**
Triticale breeding aims at improving quantitative traits like grain yield and plant height.
– Polygenic traits in triticale have low heritability due to multiple gene control.
– CIMMYT’s triticale breeding program has significantly increased grain yield over the years.
– Hybrid triticales have shown yield advantages in various environments.
– R-genes for disease resistance in wheat are well-documented.
– Genetic variability in triticale can be enhanced through hybrid development.
– Substitution and translocation triticales facilitate R-gene transfer.
– Improving genetic variability is crucial for triticale breeding progress.
– Doubled haploids save time in inbred line development.
– DH plants express recessive alleles masked in diploid genomes.

**4. Challenges, Molecular Markers, and Genetic Transformation:**
– Improving milling and bread-making quality is essential for human consumption.
– Meiotic irregularities and genome instability pose challenges in triticale improvement.
– Lodging resistance is a crucial breeding target in triticale.
– Hybrid triticales have shown better yield stability under stress compared to inbred lines.
– Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) protocols for R-genes in wheat.
– Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers used in breeding.
– SSR markers transferability rate to triticale from wheat and rye.
– Incorporation of foreign genes in crops.
– Agrobacterium-mediated and biolistics methods used.
– Advantages of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

**5. Research, Health Concerns, and Other Applications:**
Triticale shows promise as a commercial crop.
– Conventional breeding improves triticale’s value.
– Tissue culture techniques advancements.
– Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) impact on triticale breeding.
Triticale contains gluten and is unsuitable for individuals with gluten-related disorders.
Triticale as a potential component of animal feed.
Triticale in distillery production.
– Introgression transfers blocks of genes between closely related plant species.
– Production of doubled haploids in triticale.
– Application of molecular markers in triticale research.

Triticale (Wikipedia)

Triticale (/trɪtɪˈkl/; × Triticosecale) is a hybrid of wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) first bred in laboratories during the late 19th century in Scotland and Germany. Commercially available triticale is almost always a second-generation hybrid, i.e., a cross between two kinds of primary (first-cross) triticales. As a rule, triticale combines the yield potential and grain quality of wheat with the disease and environmental tolerance (including soil conditions) of rye. Only recently [when?] has it been developed into a commercially viable crop. Depending on the cultivar, triticale can more or less resemble either of its parents. It is grown mostly for forage or fodder, although some triticale-based foods can be purchased at health food stores and can be found in some breakfast cereals.

Triticale
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Triticodae
Tribe: Triticeae
Genus: × Triticosecale
Wittm. ex A. Camus.
Species

See text

Synonyms

× Triticale Tscherm.-Seys. ex Müntzing

When crossing wheat and rye, wheat is used as the female parent and rye as the male parent (pollen donor). The resulting hybrid is sterile and must be treated with colchicine to induce polyploidy and thus the ability to reproduce itself.

The primary producers of triticale are Poland, Germany, Belarus, France and Russia. In 2014, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 17.1 million tons were harvested in 37 countries across the world.

The triticale hybrids are all amphidiploid, which means the plant is diploid for two genomes derived from different species. In other words, triticale is an allotetraploid. In earlier years, most work was done on octoploid triticale. Different ploidy levels have been created and evaluated over time. The tetraploids showed little promise, but hexaploid triticale was successful enough to find commercial application.

The CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) triticale improvement program was intended to improve food production and nutrition in developing countries. Triticale was thought to have potential in the production of bread and other food products, such as cookies, pasta, pizza dough and breakfast cereals. The protein content is higher than that of wheat, although the glutenin fraction is less. The grain has also been stated to have higher levels of lysine than wheat. Acceptance would require the milling industry to adapt to triticale, as the milling techniques employed for wheat are unsuited to triticale. Past research indicated that triticale could be used as a feed grain and, particularly, later research found that its starch is readily digested. As a feed grain, triticale is already well established and of high economic importance. It has received attention as a potential energy crop, and research is currently being conducted on the use of the crop's biomass in bioethanol production. Triticale has also been used to produce vodka.

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