8th INTERNATIONAL WHEAT CONFERENCE

and diversity associated with quality traits; 3) emphasis on improving specific genotypic
quality traits (hardness, gluten strength and extensibility, micronutrient content); 4) intensified
use of Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) to screen for genes or alleles affecting
quality traits etс.
Development of healthy food is one of the main priorities of the modern plant growing.
Bread and bakery products, as basic inexpensive, readily available, and day-to-day product,
are a source of necessary nutrients. The studies on determination and searching for wheat
accessions with high content of iron and zinc as a base of biofortification production
for mass consumption have been started under the framework of the national program
(spring, winter wheat, wild relatives etc). It was revealed the trend in higher content of
iron and zinc in more low-grade flour on whiteness (r =-0.80 and -0.91 – for the samples
from Kazakhstan. The significant correlations were determined between content of Zn
and Fe (r=0.76); Zn and P (r=0.71); Fe and P (r=0.62); S and gliadin (r=0.54); Zn and
protein (r=0.64)/ It is important to study the iron and zinc contents in crop plant and improve
it by genetic means. The quantitative trait loci (QTLs) analysis suggested that genes
determining the Fe, Zn, S, K, and Ca content located on the following chromosomes of
the CS-SQ1 map: Fe – chr 2A (LOD 2.7); Zn – chr 3B (LOD 2.5); S – chr 7A (LOD 2.5);
K- chr 4D (LOD 2.6); Ca – chr 4A (LOD 7.3). Genetic mapping of the existing variation
in Fe and Zn content, GPC, hardness, and other traits will allow marker-assisted breeding
to exploit the available natural variation in crop plants. The molecular analyses of grain
quality based on variation of specific grain quality genes, such as Gpc, PinA, PinB, Amy
and etc is underway.
498