SEED PROTEIN AND ISOZYME VARIATIONS IN TRITICUM-TAUSCHII (AEGILOPS-SQUARROSA)

Sixty Triticum tauschii (Aegilops squarrosa, 2n = 2x = 14, DD) accessions were evaluated for the variability of high-molecular-weight (HMW) glutenins, gliadins and isozymes of seed esterase, beta-amylase and glucose-phosphate isomerase. Wide variability was observed for HMW-glutenins and gliadins. The implications of unique HMW-glutenin alleles for quality parameters are discussed. Isozyme evaluations indicated more variability for the Est-D(t)5 locus as compared to the Est-D5 of bread-wheat. The polymorphism for beta-Amy-D(t)1 was less than that of beta-Amy-D1. Similar to the bread-wheat situation, Gpi-D(t)i showed no polymorphism. The variability observed with the traits evaluated can be readily observed in T turgidum x T tauschii synthetic hexaploids (2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD) suggesting that T tauschii accessions may be a rich source for enhancing the genetic variability of T aestivum cultivars.