The co-operative interaction of puroindolines in wheat grain texture may involve the hydrophobic domain

The puroindoline genes are causatively associated with wheat grain hardness, a commercially significant property. The proteins puroindoline (PIN) A and B are both required in their wild-type (WT) to impart soft grain texture, and absence of/mutations in either/both PIN(s) results in hard wheat. However, there is no biochemical clarity yet that explains this interdependence. This work critically analyses the roles of the tryptophan-rich domain (TRD), the little-known hydrophobic domain (HD), and certain other residues, in the physical associations of PINs. Site-directed mutagenesis-PCR was used to delete the TRD or HD and introduce an Arg39Gly substitution in PINA. The PINB-D1c mutant (Leu60Pro) was also investigated. The yeast two-hybrid system was used to assess the protein-protein interactions (PPI) of proteins. The TRD deletion or Arg39Gly substitution in PINA did not adversely affect its PPI, while deletion of HD resulted in a significant reduction. No effect on PPI was observed for Leu60Pro PINB. The results of this expression system strongly suggest that the HD is essential (but not sufficient) in higher-order associations of PINs. We propose a two-event model that explains the co-operative action of the PINs and why mutations outside the TRD may alter grain texture.