Genetic improvement of grain protein content and other health-related constituents of wheat grain

Abstract

It is known that nearly one-third of the world population currently suffers from malnutrition due to lack of availability of adequate quantity of protein, vitamins and a number of micronutrients including Fe and Zn in their diet. A lack of other desirable bioactive compounds and dietary fibres (DF) in the diet also causes a variety of diseases. In some regions of the world, occurrence of Cd and As in wheat grain in excess of tolerance limits also adversely affects human health. In this short review, we summarize the current status of knowledge about the genetic control of the accumulation of a variety of nutritional constituents in wheat grain and then describe examples where noticeable improvements have been made using breeding approaches. We also describe the gaps that need to be bridged for better understanding of the genetic architecture of these important traits. The development and use of molecular markers in marker-assisted selection (MAS) for developing wheat varieties with improved grain quality has also been discussed.