Evolution and dispersal of emmer wheat (Triticum sp.) from novel haplotypes of Ppd-1 (photoperiod response) genes and their surrounding DNA sequences.

The sequence data from 5' UTR, intronic, coding and 3' UTR regions of Ppd-A1 and Ppd-B1 were investigated for a total of 158 accessions of emmer wheat landraces comprising 19 of wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides), 45 of hulled emmer wheat (T. dicoccum) and 94 of free-threshing (FT) emmer wheat (T. durum etc.). We detected some novel types of deletions in the coding regions from 22 hulled emmer accessions and 20 FT emmer accessions. Emmer wheat accessions with these deletions could produce predicted proteins likely to lack function. We also observed some novel mutations in Ppd-B1. Sixty-seven and forty-one haplotypes were found in Ppd-A1 and Ppd-B1, respectively. Some mutations found in this study have not been known, so they have potential for useful genetic resources for wheat breeding. On the basis of sequence data from the 5' UTR region, both Ppd-A1 and Ppd-B1 haplotypes were divided into two groups (Type AI/AII and Type BI/BII). Types AI and AII of Ppd-A1 suggested gene flow between wild and hulled emmer. On the other hand, Types BI and BII of Ppd-B1 suggested gene flow between wild and FT emmer. More than half of hulled emmer accessions were Type AII/BI but few FT emmer accessions were of this type. Therefore, over half of the hulled emmer did not contribute to evolution of FT emmer.