Distill ing Quality in Winter WheatW Thomas1, J Swanston1, R Bradley2, D Kindred2, R Weightman2,

J Brosnan3 J Melichar4, D Feuerhelm4 & O Argilier4

1SCRI, Dundee, UK; 2ADAS Boxworth, Cambs, UK; 3SWRI, Edinburgh, UK; 4Syngenta Seeds, Whittlesford, UK

Conclusions

There is considerable independence between the key distilling

quality parameters alcohol yield and viscosity thus both can be

improved simultaneously.

Although soft wheat is preferred, for ease of

processing, useful genetic variation for distilling quality

parameters exists in the hard wheat genepool.

Results

Variance component analysis showed

that the genetic component ranged from

13 (Starch) to 58% (Grain Length:Width)

of the sum of the genetic, GxE and error

components whilst the GxE component

ranged from 9 (grain shape parameters)

to 30% (Starch). The bi-plot shows that

grain yield, alcohol yield and starch

content are highly positively correlated, as

are viscosity and grain length:width ratio

and thousand grain weight and grain

width. QTLs were found for all 10 characters;

those for viscosity, starch% and TGW

were the most numerous. Notable hot

spots existed on chromosomes 2B

and 7D, where some QTLs reflected

the correlations apparent from the

bi-plot but some others did not. Useful

variation for distilling characters was

found in the hard wheat parent.

The scatter plot of grain protein and

alcohol yield confirms the negative

relationship between the two from the

bi-plot but indicates that there are

considerable deviations at all protein levels.

Mark15 0.0Mark16 2.1

Mark17 14.8

Mark18 21.1

Mark19 35.5

Mark20 57.2

Mark21 63.1

Mark22 70.6

Mark23 87.7

Mark24 135.9Mark25 137.4

Res_V

iscStarch% G

rain_N

1B

Mark59 0.0

Mark60 8.1

Mark61 58.1

Mark62 72.7

Mark63 122.7Mark64 126.8Mark65 131.9Mark66 133.4Mark67 137.7Mark68 140.7

Len_Wid

AlcY_t

GR_Width

TGW

Res_V

isc

Starch%

2B

Mark75 0.0

Mark76 36.5

Mark77 86.5

Mark78 107.6

Mark79 157.6

Mark80 180.0

Starch%

2D Mark87 0.0

Mark88 25.5

Mark89 36.3

Mark90 53.1

Mark91 65.6Mark92 69.7

Mark93 80.7

Mark94 92.1

Mark95 111.5

Mark96 129.4

Mark97 148.8Mark98 152.1

Mark99 171.3

Starch%

TGW

3A Mark103 0.0Mark104 2.6Mark105 5.7Mark106 8.6Mark107 10.8

Mark108 19.2

Mark109 33.2

Mark110 44.8

Mark111 68.9Mark112 71.8Mark113 75.1Mark114 76.5Mark115 79.3Mark116 83.4Mark117 85.5Mark118 88.2Mark119 92.5

Mark120 107.3

Mark121 117.2

Mark122 125.4

Mark123 131.4

Mark124 158.8

Mark125 183.4

TGW

Starch%

Starch%

3B

Mark129 0.0

Mark130 5.2

Mark131 10.2Mark132 15.0

Mark133 23.3

Mark134 33.2

Mark135 52.2Mark136 55.0

Mark137 65.8

Mark138 84.8Mark139 88.6

Grain_N

3D

Mark153 0.0Mark154 4.5

Mark155 13.1Mark156 17.9

4B

Mark168 0.0Mark169 2.1

Mark170 17.0

Mark171 23.8Mark172 25.4

Mark173 37.5

TGW

5A

Mark176 0.0

Mark177 7.1Mark178 8.8

Mark179 17.2

Mark180 25.6

Mark181 31.2

Mark182 36.8

Res_V

isc

5B

Mark186 0.0

Mark187 23.7

Mark188 73.7Mark189 77.2Mark190 79.7

Mark191 108.8

Mark192 116.3

Mark193 131.1Mark194 133.0Mark195 138.3Mark196 141.3

Res_V

iscGr_Length

5D

Mark215 0.0

Mark216 23.1Mark217 26.5Mark218 28.8

Mark219 41.1

Starch%

6B Mark223 0.0

Mark224 23.9

Mark225 46.7

Mark226 72.3

Mark227 92.6

Mark228 112.0

Grain_N

6D

Mark248 0.0

Mark249 7.9

Mark250 15.6

Mark251 28.4

Mark252 47.2

Mark253 53.2Mark254 56.8

Mark255 106.8

Mark256 116.9Mark257 120.3Mark258 120.5

Mark259 136.3Mark260 137.9

Mark261 147.6Mark262 150.9Mark263 152.2Mark264 154.0

Len_Wid

GR_Width

Starch%

AlcY_t

Res_V

isc

7D

Mark1 0.0Mark2 2.4Mark3 4.4Mark4 5.6Mark5 9.0Mark6 11.6

Mark7 38.0

Mark8 51.6

Mark9 68.4Mark10 71.5

Mark11 76.9

Grain_N

Res_V

isc

1A

Hardness

Hardness

Hardness

Hardness

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

Alcohol Yield

ProteinHard

ness

ViscosityStarch%

Gr Length

Gr Width

Len:Wid

TGW

Yield

(28.85%)

(25.81%)

ControlCxE

Istabraq

Claire

Materials & MethodsIntroduction

AcknowledgmentsThis project was supported by the LINK

Sustainable Arable Programme through

sponsorship by BBSRC, RERAD and HGCA and

industrial contributions from Syngenta Seeds, The

Scotch Whisky Research Institute, FOSS UK,

Wessex Grain, Green Spirit Fuels and Grampian

The Scotch Whisky industry used over 550,000t of wheat from harvest

2008 as a starch adjunct in grain whisky production, where the cereal

adjunct is cooked prior to mashing with addition of 5-15% high enzyme

barley malt in the mash, fermentation and distillation.

The key requirements are a high level of spirit production coupled with a

low viscosity of the residue, which are largely the result of carbohydrate

and protein respectively and have received little breeding attention.

We used a random inbred population from a cross between Canterbury x

Eclipse to study the genetic control of alcohol yield and related

characters.

The population was grown in replicated field trials under contrasting nitrogen

regimes to provide 8 environments, from which yield estimates were obtained.

We then utilised NIR to predict alcohol yield, grain protein and starch content

and the MARVIN seed analyser to measure grain size parameters from cleaned

and graded seed samples and derived overall and environmental means.

Bi-plots were used to study the relationships between the overall means. 201

molecular markers were used to construct a genetic map that we then used in

a QTLxE analysis, taking into account the variance/covariance structure

between individual environments, to identify genomic regions affecting the

genetic control of distilling quality traits.

Bi-plot showing relationships between characters and genotypes

Relationship between protein content and alcohol yield

Distilling quality QTLs in Canterbury x Eclipse