The use of metabolomic profiling to evaluate Aegilops tauschii Coss accessions of various geographical origin from the VIR collection

Background. Aegilops tauschii Coss. is a diploid cereal species carrying the D genome of polyploid wheat, which determines the baking properties of bread wheat. A. tauschii is often used to improve old cultivars of Triticum aestivum L. through breeding, and develop new ones. The collection of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) contains over 5,000 accessions of 27 Aegilops L. spp. of various ecogeographic origin, serving as a breeding resource. Identifying donors of valuable agronomic traits involves an in-depth study of the collection materials, including finding the dependence of biochemical parameters on the region of the accession’s origin. Metabolomic profiling was applied to assess the differences between A. tauschii seed accessions originating from regions with contrasting climate conditions. Materials and methods. Two accessions of A. tauschii from the VIR collection, contrasting in their origin, served as the material for the study: k-1958 from Iran, and k-340 from Azerbaijan. Both were grown at Dagestan Experimental Station of VIR. Results and conclusion. Statistically significant differences were found between the metabolomic profiles of A. tauschii seed accessions originating from regions with contrasting climates: subtropical semi-arid (Azerbaijan), and subtropical humid (Iran).