Spelt gluten epitopes vary widely among 121 accessions
What it found
In a wide collection of spelt, the amount of celiac-related gluten fragments made by the plant varied up to 28-fold between accessions.
Spring types made more than winter types, and the amount in the plant's DNA did not match what it actually made.
What they found
Wide variation among accessions
The amount of epitope transcripts ranged from 0.14 to 3.97, a 28.4-fold difference. Spanish accessions had the highest levels and Tajik accessions the lowest.
Spring vs winter types
Spring accessions made significantly more epitope transcripts than winter ones. This pattern held within different geographical groups.
Breeding had no clear effect
When comparing cultivars and landraces from Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, no statistical difference in epitope expression was found.
DNA does not predict expression
The amount of epitope sequences in the plant's DNA did not correlate with the amount of epitope transcripts made. Spring types had lower DNA occurrence but higher expression than winter types.
Harvest year stability
Across four harvest years, the ranking of accessions stayed mostly the same, and no significant effect of harvest year alone was found. However, there was an interaction between accession and year.
Nitrogen fertilizer effect
For one variety (Cosmos), nitrogen fertilizer amount and timing made no difference to epitope expression. For another (Zollernspelz), one high-nitrogen treatment gave slightly higher expression at 20 days after flowering.
What the authors conclude
“Some accessions were shown to display a low CD-related content, but they cannot be safely consumed by celiac patients since even low amounts of immunogenic epitopes still stimulate the immune system.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the CD-related epitope expression varied greatly among the spelt accessions studied.
- They note that this expression was not correlated with the epitope's genomic occurrence and that environmental factors had almost no influence on the amount of epitope transcripts.
- They advise that lowering the CD-related epitope content by changing environmental conditions or nitrogen fertilization could be inefficient, and that breeding should use markers for epitope transcripts rather than genomic sequences.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see if spelt has low-celiac-potential types that could be used to breed new varieties, and whether growing conditions like harvest year or nitrogen fertilizer change the amount of these gluten fragments.
They grew 121 spelt accessions (cultivars and landraces, spring and winter) in Belgium and measured the expression of four main celiac-related alpha-gliadin epitopes. They also compared DNA and RNA levels for 45 accessions, followed 10 accessions over four harvest years, and tested seven nitrogen fertilizer plans on two commercial varieties.
What it can’t tell you
- This study measured epitope expression in spelt plants, not in people. It cannot show whether eating any particular spelt product would affect someone with celiac disease.
- The authors did not test whether these spelt accessions are safe for celiac patients, and they state that even low amounts of immunogenic epitopes still stimulate the immune system.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE: All field trials have been carried out in accordance with local legislation. CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION: Not applicable. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
- Authors work at
- Walloon Agricultural Research Center, Belgium; Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
The paper
- Title
- Genetic and environmental factors affecting the expression of α-gliadin canonical epitopes involved in celiac disease in a wide collection of spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta) cultivars and landraces
- Type
- Study
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Dubois B, Bertin P, Hautier L, Muhovski Y, Escarnot E, Mingeot D (2018). Genetic and environmental factors affecting the expression of α-gliadin canonical epitopes involved in celiac disease in a wide collection of spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta) cultivars and landraces. BMC plant biology. doi:10.1186/s12870-018-1487-yFree full textPubMed 30382818DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error