The carotenoid lutein is the main yellow pigment in wheat grain. During postharvest storage of bread wheat grain, lutein can be converted into lutein esters. Under warm and dry conditions, lutein esters are more stable than free lutein. Lutein esterification is catalysed by a xanthophyll acyl transferase (XAT) that is encoded by a gene (Xat) on short arm of chromosome 7D. Lutein esterification does not occur in durum wheat, which lacks the D genome. To transfer Xat to durum, we crossed a 7D(7A) disomic chromosome substitution line of Langdon durum with an Australian durum cultivar. Among F2 plants from this cross, one was found to carry Xat on a recombinant chromosome that consists mainly of 7A, but has a short distal segment from 7DS. That segment also carries the leaf rust resistance gene Lr34. Homozygous recombinant progeny were confirmed to form lutein esters. With marker-assisted backcrossing, Xat and Lr34 have been combined with favourable alleles for semi-dwarf stature, photoperiod insensitivity, high phytoene synthase and low lipoxygenase in elite backgrounds, with the objective of developing cultivars with high and stable grain lutein. Progeny with other recombination events between 7D and 7A have been identified, indicating the potential of this approach for moving other genes from the D genome to the A genome – without resorting to the use of meiotic mutants.