A bread wheat zinc biofortification project - genotypes screening to obtain a prototype

Considering the enormous diversity of available wheat genotypes as well as the climate and soil conditions of each region, the screening of wheat prototypes genotypes for Zn natural biofortification becomes sharply important at an economic, technological and nutritional level, due to its wide use in the milling industry. This study aims at to develop the industrial production of Zn biofortified flour, using wheat genotypes well adapted to the Portuguese climatic and soil conditions, with high capabilities to accumulate Zn in the grain. Accordingly, ten selected wheat genotypes will be grown in controlled (growth chambers) and uncontrolled (experimental fields) growing systems for support and comparative analysis. In both systems increasing levels of Zn will be applied, to identify the prototype genotype with favorable characteristics for natural Zn fortification. For that, the work will mainly focused on the analysis of the kinetics of Zn translocation to the grain. Indeed, as the capture of the root elements and their accumulation in the seeds are limited by the capacity of ions absorption and transport in the plant, the kinetics characterization of Zn translocation and its accumulation rate in the grain will be essential for serializing the prototype genotype for Zn biofortification.