© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 273
M. Molnár-Láng et al. (eds.), Alien Introgression in Wheat,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-23494-6_11
Chapter 11
Wheat-Perennial Triticeae Introgressions:
Major Achievements and Prospects
Carla Ceoloni , Ljiljana Kuzmanovic , Paola Forte , Maria Elena Virili ,
and Alessandra Bitti
11.1 Introduction
Species belonging to the Triticeae tribe of the grass family (Poaceae) have con-
stantly played a decisive role in development and livelihood of mankind. In addition
to about 100 annual such species, including some of the most important domesti-
cated cereal crops (e.g., wheat, barley , and rye ), the tribe encompasses around 400
perennials. The latter group comprises several species, commonly referred to as
wheatgrasses and wildryes , which, either as natural invaders or purposefully intro-
duced and even selected by man, represent excellent sources of forage and habitat
for livestock and wildlife, and also contribute to soil upkeep and to many other
aspects of environmental management. In addition to their utility as species per se,
many perennial grasses have been successfully hybridized with cultivated, annual
cereal crops and notably wheat , for which they have worked as highly valuable
sources to improve resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as quality and
yield-related traits, and even to try conferring a perennial habitus to the typically
annual wheat.
The relative ease with which hybridization, both natural and man-made, and
transfer of desirable attributes has been accomplished from several perennial
Triticeae into wheat is due to the existence of suffi cient cytogenetic and cytoge-
nomic affi nity between the former group of species, belonging to the wheat tertiary
gene pool (Harlan and de Wet 1971 ), and the cultivated forms of Triticum. Based on
this, not only complete or partial wheat-perennial Triticeae amphiploids, but also
addition and substitution lines of single alien chromosome s, and even radiation-
induced--> translocation or recombinant lines with segmental introgressions have
C. Ceoloni (*) • L. Kuzmanovic • P. Forte • M. E. Virili • A. Bitti
Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Nature and Energy (DAFNE) , University of Tuscia ,
Viterbo 01100 , Italy
e-mail: [email protected]