| Summary: | Bread wheat has traditionally been selected for whitish derived flours. As a consequence, the current varieties carry carotenogenic alleles associated with low grain carotenoid. In contrast, high grain yellow pigment content (YPC) has been a major target in durum wheat programs since yellow colour is an important aesthetic factor for pasta production. Phytoene synthase 1 (<i>Psy1</i>) genes have an important role in the determination of the carotenoid content in wheat. In this work, we have transferred the genes <i>Psy1-A1</i> and <i>Psy1-B1</i> from durum to bread wheat by inter-specific hybridization in order to evaluate the combined effect of these genes for the improvement of grain carotenoid content, as well as the development of carotenoid-enriched bread wheat lines. Inter-specific breeding coupled with a MAS approach based on <i>Psy1-A1</i> and <i>Psy1-B1</i> alleles has allowed the development of bread wheat pre-breeding lines with enhanced grain carotenoid content (16–23% mean). These biofortified lines have the potential to become new varieties or to be used as recurrent parents in bread wheat breeding programs.
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