No abstract

Tritordeum is a novel hexaploid cereal derived from the cross between a wild Chilean barley species (Hordeum chilense Roem. et Schultz) and durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum Desf.) that is potentially of great interest for human nutrition. In this study, a commercial and an experimental Tritordeum cultivar were analyzed in comparison with a reference durum wheat under conventional and organic management. We demonstrate that Tritordeum is better adapted to organic farming through an increase in the below-ground rhizosphere community of the Bacteroidetes phylum, which includes many bacteria species known to exert beneficial effects on plants, particularly for root growth. Despite a considerably lower grain yield, Tritordeum had better quality traits than durum wheat, particularly under organic farming vs. conventional management, with respect to total protein contents, high molecular weight glutenin subunits, antioxidant free phenols and nutrients (i.e., calcium, potassium, sulphur, iron, and zinc), depending on the cultivar. We conclude that Tritordeum is a promising cereal in light of its quality traits and adaptability to sustainable crop management practices, such as organic farming, although further improvement in yield potential should be pursued by breeding and by optimising the cultivation method.

Plant biodiversity preservation is one of the most important priorities of today’s agriculture. Wheat (Triticum spp. L.) is widely cultivated worldwide, mostly under a conventional and monovarietal farming method, leading to progressive biodiversity erosion. On the contrary, the evolutionary population (EP) cultivation technique is characterized by mixing and sowing together as many wheat genotypes as possible to allow the crop to genetically adapt over the years in relation to specific pedoclimatic conditions. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional, chemical and sensory qualities of three different breads obtained using different organic EP flours, produced following a traditional sourdough process and compared to a commercial wheat cultivar bread. Technological parameters, B-complex vitamins, microelements, dietary fibre and phenolic acids were determined in raw materials and final products. Flours obtained by EPs showed similar characteristics to the commercial wheat cultivar flour. However, significant differences on grain technological quality were found. The breads were comparable with respect to chemical and nutritional qualities. Overall, the sensory panellists rated the tasted breads positively assigning the highest score to those produced with EPs flours (6.75–7.02) as compared to commercial wheat cultivar-produced bread (cv. Bologna, 6.36).

A complex of atypical PKC and Par6 is a common regulator for cell-polarity related processes, which is an essential clue to evolutionary conserved cell-polarity regulation. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the aPKC and Par6 PB1 domain complex to a resolution of 1.5 Å. Both PB1 adopt a ubiquitin fold. aPKC PB1 presents an OPCA motif, 28 amino acid residues with acidic and hydrophobic residues, which interacts with the conserved lysine residue of Par6 PB1 in a front-and-back manner. Structural comparison of the aPKC and Par6 PB1 complex with the p40 phox and p67 phox PB1 complex, subunits of neutrophil NADPH oxidase, reveals that the specific interaction is achieved by tilting the interface so that the insertion or extension in the sequence is engaged in the specificity determinant. The PB1 domain develops the interaction surface on the ubiquitin fold to increase the versatility of molecular interaction.