The identification of carotenoid esters in the grains of cereals can be an important trait for biofortification since esterification increases both accumulation and stability of carotenoids. Tritordeums, the amphiploids derived from the inter-specific cross between the wild barley Hordeum chilense Roem. et Schultz. and durum wheat, have high levels of carotenoid esters in grain. The gene XAT-7Hch, coding for a xanthophyll acyl transferase (XAT), is responsible for carotenoid esterification in H. chilense and tritordeum.

The use of wild relatives in wheat breeding has a long story of success. In this context, H. chilense genome has been transferred into wheat background (mostly common wheat) for improving several traits. Indeed, a translocation line carrying XAT-7Hch was developed in one of our previous projects, which can be used as a perfect donor to transfer XAT-7Hch into durum wheat background using inter-specific crosses and marker assisted selection (MAS). This process is currently in-progress, with the first hybrids already obtained from crosses using the translocation line as mother line and several durum wheat varieties as pollen donors. A backcrossing-MAS selection program will be followed in order to obtain durum wheat biofortified lines carrying XAT-7Hch.