title: Evolutionary Metabolomics Reveals Domestication-Associated Changes in Tetraploid Wheat Kernels.
abstract: Domestication and breeding have influenced the genetic structure of plant populations due to selection for adaptation from natural habitats to agro-ecosystems. Here, we investigate the effects of selection on the contents of 51 primary kernel metabolites and their relationships in three Triticum turgidum L. subspecies (i.e., wild emmer, emmer, durum wheat) that represent the major steps of tetraploid wheat domestication. We present a methodological pipeline to identify the signature of selection for molecular phenotypic traits (e.g., metabolites and transcripts). Following the approach, we show that a reduction in unsaturated fatty acids was associated with selection during domestication of emmer (primary domestication). We also show that changes in the amino acid content due to selection mark the domestication of durum wheat (secondary domestication). These effects were found to be partially independent of the associations that unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids have with other domestication-related kernel traits. Changes in contents of metabolites were also highlighted by alterations in the metabolic correlation networks, indicating wide metabolic restructuring due to domestication. Finally, evidence is provided that wild and exotic germplasm can have a relevant role for improvement of wheat quality and nutritional traits.
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beleggia
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rau
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laidò
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell' economia agraria - Unità di Ricerca per l'Orticoltura (CREA-ORA), Monsampolo del Tronto (AP), Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Platani
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nigro
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariagiovanna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fragasso
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Vita
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell' economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Frutticoltura (CREA-FRU), Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scossa
authors.affiliation: Central Metabolism Group, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Alisdair R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fernie
authors.affiliation: Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling Group, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nikoloski
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per la Cerealicoltura (CREA-CER), Foggia, Italy Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali (D3A), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy roberto.papa@entecra.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Papa
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000071278:Domestication; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D010641:Phenotype; D000069600:Plant Breeding; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D057891:Tetraploidy; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
keywords: QST; domestication; metabolomics.; population genomics; wheat