P.R. Shewry, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK; D. Lafiandra, University of Tuscia, Via SC De Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy; L. Tamás, Eotvos Lorand University of Sciences, 1/C Pazmany Peter stny, Budapest, Hungary; F. Békés, CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
Gliadin and Glutenin: The Unique Balance of Wheat Quality
Pages 363-385
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/9781891127519.016
ISBN: 978-1-891127-51-9
Abstract
Improving end-use quality has become of increasing importance to wheat breeders over the past few decades with an emphasis on developing suites of cultivars for specific applications such as Western-style leavened bread, Asian noodles, biscuits and starch-gluten separation. Selection of such lines has been greatly assisted by the establishment and exploitation of biochemical and molecular markers, based on elucidation of the molecular basis for various quality parameters. However, although such markers can greatly improve the efficiency of selection, the ability of breeders to improve varieties is still limited by the extent of variation available in the germ plasm. The present chapter therefore discusses how the variation in gluten-protein composition and properties can be increased using introgression from exotic lines and related species, and by genetic engineering technology. It also discusses how these studies can be underpinned by using small-scale testing systems to determine the functional properties of individual gluten proteins, expressed in heterologous systems and the early generations of crossing and transformation programs.
