MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF TURKISH DURUM WHEAT LANDRACES FOR gamma-GLIADIN AND LMW-GLUTENIN PROTEINS ASSOCIATED WITH PASTA-COOKING QUALITY

In recent years, pasta-cooking quality has become an important issue in durum wheat breeding. Pasta-cooking quality of durum wheat has been shown to depend mainly on protein content and gluten properties. Gluten is a complex mixture of proteins composed of gliadins and glutenins. A strong correlation exists between certain gamma-gliadin and/or LMW-glutenin proteins and the viscoelastic properties of gluten affecting al dente cooking quality of pasta goods. Of those proteins, gamma-gliadin 45 and LMW-2 glutenin alleles are correlated with proper gluten strength and superior pasta-cooking quality, whereas gamma-gliadin 42 and LMW-1 glutenin tend to provide weak gluten with reduced cooking quality. In this study, DNA and protein markers have been jointly used for the analysis of gamma-gliadin and LMW-glutenin QTLs of Turkish local durum wheat cultivars (landraces) affecting pasta-cooking quality. For that purposes, 13 SSR, one STS and two GAG primers linked to Gli-B1 loci were used. Polymorphic relations of 28 Turkish durum wheat landraces with Canadian durum wheat cultivars of Kyle and Avonlea were determined through PCR reactions. Additionally, gliadin and LMW-glutenin proteins of the landraces were separated using A-PAGE and SDS-PAGE techniques, respectively. Of the 28 durum landraces, 17 were determined carrying gamma-gliadin 45 and LMW-2 glutenin proteins associated with proper gluten strength and superior pasta-cooking quality.