Cereal Chem 62:392-398   |  VIEW ARTICLE
Computer-Aided Analysis of Gliadin Electrophoregrams. III. Characterization of the Heterogeneity in Gliadin Composition for a Population of 98 Common Wheats.

H. D. Sapirstein and W. Bushuk. Copyright 1985 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The heterogeneity of gliadin composition resolved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was studied to determine distinguishable groups of common components among a diverse collection of genotypes. The frequency distribution of protein bands, as a function of relative mobility, was computed. The resulting "PAGE map" confirmed the existence of at least 95 different gliadin components among a population of 98 common spring and winter wheat cultivars. For most cultivars, apparently common bands were identifiable as isolated clusters within a relative mobility interval of about 0.5 units. Rigorous standardization of electrophoretic mobility data, using multiple reference bands, was required to prevent significant gliadin heterogeneity from escaping detection. The PAGE map process is proposed as a reference method for analysis of one-dimensional electrophoretic data facilitating an objective classification of protein composition for multivariate or genetic analysis and interlaboratory comparisons.