Characterization of Khorasan wheat (Kamut) and impact of a replacement diet on cardiovascular risk factors: cross-over dietary intervention study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Khorasan wheat (Kamut) is an ancient grain with widely acclaimed beneficial effects on human health. The objective was to characterise Kamut and to examine the effect of a replacement diet with their products on cardiovascular risk parameters. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted a randomized, single-blinded cross-over trial with two intervention phases on 22 healthy subjects (14 females; 8 males). The participants were assigned to consume products (bread, pasta and crackers) made either from Kamut or control semi-whole-grain wheat for 8 weeks in a random order. An 8-week washout period was implemented between the interventions. Laboratory analyses were performed both at the beginning and at the end of each intervention phase. RESULTS: At a general linear model for repeated measurements adjusted for several confounders, consumption of Kamut products showed a significant reduction of metabolic risk factors such as total cholesterol (mean reduction: -8.46 mg/dl; -4%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-9.82 mg/dl; -7.8%) and blood glucose. Similarly, redox status was significantly improved only after the Kamut intervention phase, as measured by a reduction in both thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (-0.17 nmol/ml; -21.5%;) and carbonyl levels (-0.16 nmol/ml; -17.6%). The replacement diet with Kamut products also resulted in a significant increase of serum potassium and magnesium. Circulating levels of key pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, tumour necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor) were significantly reduced after the consumption of Kamut products. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that a replacement diet with Kamut products could be effective in reducing metabolic risk factors, markers of both oxidative stress and inflammatory status.

Storage-protein variation in wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp.dicoccoides) from Jordan and Turkey. I. Electrophoretic characterization of genotypes.

Seed storage-protein variation at theGlu-A1,Glu-B1 andGli-B1/Glu-B3 loci in the tetraploid wild progenitor of wheat,T. dicoccoides, was studied electrophoretically in 315 individuals representing nine populations from Jordan and three from Turkey. A total of 44 different HMW-glutenin patterns were identified, resulting from the combination of 15 alleles in the A genome and 19 in the B genome. Twenty-seven new allelic variants, 12 at theGlu-A1 locus and 15 at theGlu-B1 locus, were identified by comparing the mobilities of their subunits to those previously found in bread and durum wheats. The novel variants include six alleles at theGlu-A1 locus showing both x and y subunits. The genes coding for the 1Bx and 1By subunits showed no or very little (3%) inactivity, the 1Ax gene showed a moderate degree (6.3%) of inactivity whereas the gene coding for lAy showed the highest degree of inactivity (84.8%). A high level of polymorphism was also present for the omega- and gamma-gliadins and LMW-glutenin subunits encoded by genes at the linkedGli-B1 andGlu-B3 loci (19 alleles). Some Jordanian accessions were found to contain omega-gliadin 35, gamma-gliadin 45, and LMW-2 also present in cultivated durum wheats and related to good gluten viscoelasticity. The newly-discovered alleles enhance the genetic variability available for improving the technological quality of wheats. Additionally some of them may facilitate basic research on the relationship between industrial properties and the number and functionality of HMW- and LMW-glutenin subunits.

Storage-protein variation in wild emmer (Triticum turgidum ssp.dicoccoides) from Jordan and Turkey. : II. Patterns of allele distribution.

Genetic diversity in the seed storage-proteins encoded at theGlu-A1,Glu-B1 andGli-B1/Glu-B3 loci was studied electrophoretically in 315 individuals belonging to nine populations ofT. dicoccoides from Jordan and three from Turkey. The inter- and intra-population distribution of seed storage-protein alleles at the considered loci and its link with geographical factors were investigated. Population differentiation in seed storage-proteins was in some cases very high with very weak correlations with geographic distance. Greater gene differentiation was found within and between populations which were geographically very close in Jordan than between those from Jordan and Turkey. However the distribution of alleles appeared to be non random. Samples collected from populations at locations over 900 m above sea level were less polymorphic than those collected at lower altitudes (500-700 m), whereas the relative genetic differentiation between populations was greater between those collected at higher altitudes. Seed storage-protein differentiation was significantly correlated with the altitude of the collecting sites. Although it is difficult to point out the selective pressure of altitude per se, altitude can reflect an integration of several environmental parameters. The possible adaptive value of seed storage-proteins is discussed.

Chromosomal location of gliadin coding genes in T. aestivum ssp. spelta and evidence on the lack of components controlled by Gli-2 loci in wheat aneuploids.

Electrophoretical analyses of the gliadin fraction extracted from seeds of the intervarietal substitution lines of T. aestivum ssp. spelta in the T. aestivum ssp. vulgare cv 'Chinese Spring' for the homoeologous groups 1 and 6 and substitution lines of 6D chromosome of 'Chinese Spring' in the durum wheat cv 'Langdon' allowed the identification of seeds without gliadin proteins controlled by genes on chromosome 6A and 6B. A gliadin component of 'Chinese Spring', not previously assigned to any specific chromosome, is controlled by chromosome 6D in the 6D (6A) and 6D (6B) disomic substitution lines of 'Langdon'. Additional genes controlling the synthesis of this component may be present on other chromosomes, very likely 6A and 6B, since the analysis of the 'Chinese Spring' compensating nullisomic-tetrasomics involving the 6D chromosome does not show the loss of this component or any apparent change in staining intensity. Chromosomal location data and two-dimensional gliadin maps reveal close homologies between the two hexaploid wheats, 'Chinese Spring' (T. aestivum ssp. vulgare) and T. aestivum ssp. spelta, belonging to different subspecies in the hexaploid group of genomic formula AABBDD. The comparison of gliadin electrophoretic patterns aiding in the identification of evolutionary pathways in wheat is stressed.

Genetic analysis of Triticeae shikimate dehydrogenase.

Starch gel electrophoresis and polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing (IEF) were used to investigate the genetic control of Triticeae shikimate dehydrogenase-1 (SKDH-1). Studies of wheat-alien species chromosome addition lines established that Skdh-1 of Hordeum vulgare cv. Betzes is located in chromosome 5H, Skdh-V1 of Dasypyrum villosum in 5V, Skdh-R1 of Secale cereale cvs. Dakold and King II in 5R, and Skdh-S1(1) of Triticum longissimum in 5S1S. Also, the chromosomal locations of the genes that encode SKDH-1 in T. aestivum cv. Chinese Spring, T. umbellulatum, and S. cereale cv. Imperial, determined earlier using zone electrophoresis, were reconfirmed using IEF. Zone electrophoresis and IEF do not differ markedly in their ability to detect the expression of alien Skdh-1 genes in wheat-alien species chromosome addition lines. However, IEF may be superior to zone electrophoresis as a technique for detecting and analyzing SKDH-1 genetic variants within Triticeae species; among the species studied, IEF generally resolved two or more isozymes per Skdh-1 allele present, while zone electrophoresis resolved only one.