*Article* **Development of wheat—***Hordeum chilense* **Chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> Introgression Lines Potentially Useful for Improving Grain Quality Traits**

### **Carmen Palomino and Adoracion Cabrera \***

Departamento de Genética, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes, Edificio Gregor Mendel, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, CeiA3, ES-14071 Córdoba, Spain

**\*** Correspondence: acabrera@uco.es

Received: 25 July 2019; Accepted: 23 August 2019; Published: 28 August 2019

**Abstract:** The chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> of *Hordeum chilense*. has the potential to improve seed carotenoid content in wheat as it carries a set of endosperm carotenoid-related genes. We have obtained structural changes in chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> in a common wheat (*Triticum aestivum* L. "Chinese Spring") background by crossing a wheat double disomic substitution 2Hch(2D) and 7Hch(7D) line with a disomic addition line carrying chromosome 2Cc from *Aegilops cylindrica* Host.. Seven introgressions of chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> into wheat were characterized by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and DNA markers. Chromosome-specific simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were used for identifying wheat chromosomes. In addition, we tested 82 conserved orthologous set (COS) markers for homoeologous group 2, of which 65 amplified targets in *H. chilense* and 26 showed polymorphism between *H. chilense* and wheat. A total of 24 markers were assigned to chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> with eight allocated to 2HchS and 16 to 2HchL. Among the seven introgressions there was a disomic substitution line 2Hch(2D), a ditelosomic addition line for the 2HchL arm, an isochromosome for the 2HchL arm, a homozygous centromeric 2HchS·2DL translocation, a double monosomic 2HchS·2DL plus 7HchS·D translocation, a homozygous centromeric 7HchS·2HchL translocation and, finally, a 2Hc<sup>h</sup> L·7Hc<sup>h</sup> L translocation. Wheat—*H. chilense* macrosyntenic comparisons using COS markers revealed that *H. chilense* chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> exhibits synteny to wheat homoeologous group 2 chromosomes, and the COS markers assigned to this chromosome will facilitate alien gene introgression into wheat. The genetic stocks developed here include new wheat—*H. chilense* recombinations which are useful for studying the e ffect of chromosome 2Hc<sup>h</sup> on grain quality traits.

**Keywords:** grain colour; *Hordeum chilense*; wheat introgression; wheat quality; wild barley
