SEED STORAGE PROTEINS OF WILD WHEAT PROGENITORS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

A large collection of wild wheat progenitors, consisting of diploid (Triticum boeoticum Boiss. nd Triticum urartu Tum.) and tetraploid wheats (Triticum dicoccoides Korn.) was evaluated for certain grain quality parameters such as protein content and the SDS-Sedimentation test. The variation in protein content was larger in T. dicoccoides, ranging from 16 to 27 %, compared to diploid wheat (20-28 %), Some accessions appeared to be very promising for gluten properties, as measured by the SDS-test, when compared with some durum wheat cultivars. To determine the relationships between particular protein components and gluten properties, diploid, tetraploid wheats, and synthetic amphiploids (AABB x DD) were analysed by different electrophoretic procedures. Attention was focused on the study of the allelic variation at loci that in cultivated wheats play the major role in determining gluten quality (Glu-1, Gli-1 and Glu-3). The range of allelic variation at the loci examined is remarkable, and genetic variants unique to wild wheats and positively related to gluten quality are reported.