RESUMEN
Protein content, gluten strength and pasta color are the most
important quality criteria for durum wheat. The long-term goal of this
project is to provide a better understanding of the genes controlling
pasta quality traits in durum wheat. The first step towards this goal
will be the development of tools for marker-assisted selection of
those loci associated to pasta quality. It is also proposed the
improvement of adapted argentinean elite germplasm using the obtained
molecular tools. The identification of molecular markers linked to
agronomic traits has the potential to accelerate wheat breeding
programs. In this way, breeders will be able to select at the genetic
level rather than at phenotypic expression level; consequently,
breeding programs will be dramatically accelerated by MAS on durum
wheat.