Cultivar · Durum wheat cultivar
Kronos
Kronos is a United States durum wheat, grown as irrigated Desert Durum, that has become the standard tetraploid reference genotype in wheat genetics through a sequenced TILLING mutant population used to study gene function.
Record
Cultivar / variety- Variety of
- Wheat
- Botanical taxon
- Triticum turgidum subsp. durum
- Type
- Cultivar
- Breeding method
- Cross-breeding (pedigree selection)
- Origin
- United States
- Registry status
- Historical · as of 2026-07-12
- Adaptation
- Grown as irrigated "Desert Durum" in the hot, arid conditions of the southwestern United States.
- Intended use
- Durum wheat for semolina and pasta, Widely used tetraploid reference genotype in wheat genetics (TILLING) research
Registry listing or variety protection is jurisdiction- and date-specific and does not by itself indicate current commercial availability, universal cultivation approval, patent status, or a recommendation.
Kronos is a durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) grown in the United States, where durum of this type is produced as irrigated "Desert Durum" in the hot, arid southwest. Like other durum wheats it yields hard, amber grain used to make semolina for pasta.
Kronos is best known in research as the tetraploid counterpart to the bread wheat Cadenza: a large chemically mutagenized (EMS) TILLING population was created in Kronos and had its exome sequenced, giving scientists a way to find mutations in individual durum-wheat genes. This resource was developed by a collaboration among US and UK research institutes.
Origin and classification
- Species
- Triticum turgidum subsp. durum (tetraploid durum wheat)
- Origin
- United States (grown as irrigated Desert Durum)
- Growth habit
- Spring
- End use
- Semolina for pasta
Use in research
Kronos is widely used as a durum reference genotype in wheat functional genomics. A TILLING population — a collection of lines each carrying many chemically induced point mutations — was generated in Kronos and had its exome sequenced, allowing researchers to identify lines mutated in a chosen gene. Together with the hexaploid cultivar Cadenza, Kronos underpins a large part of publicly available wheat mutant resources.
Relationships
Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.
Adapted to climate
Scope & limitations
Geographic scope: Documented United States durum wheat used internationally as a tetraploid wheat genetics reference; agronomic adaptation is region- and season-specific.
Climate context: A durum wheat grown as irrigated Desert Durum in hot, arid regions and used widely as a research genotype.
- Adaptation and trait notes are region- and season-specific, and performance varies by environment.
- No release year or breeder is asserted here because reliable details were not confirmed; Kronos is described mainly through its documented use as a durum research reference genotype.
Sources
This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.
- High
Cited for: Classification of Triticum turgidum subsp. durum and Kronos exome/sequence resources
- Type:
- Reference database
- Jurisdiction:
- Global
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12
- [2]USDA ARS — Agricultural Research Service (opens in a new tab)Authoritative
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Cited for: United States durum wheat research context
- Type:
- Government agency
- Jurisdiction:
- United States
- Accessed:
- 2026-07-12