A MALDI-TOF based analysis of high molecular weight glutenin subunits for wheat breeding

High molecular weight glutenin subunits play an important role in determining wheat dough quality as they confer visco-elastic properties to the dough required for mixing and baking performance. In this work, a collection of 103 genotypes of common wheat from 12 countries was used to analyse the composition of HMW-GS by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS. Results indicated that MALDI-TOF technology is suitable for analyzing most HMW-GS alleles. The allelic diversity at Glu-B1 locus include subunits 6+8b∗, 7, 7+8, 7+8a∗, 7b∗+8, 7OE, 7OE+8, 7OE+8a∗, 7OE+8b∗, 7+9, 13+16, 14+15, 17+18 and 20. The rapid identification of HMW-GS capability of MALDI-TOF-MS is discussed in relation to its value for screening lines in wheat breeding programs, especially in discriminating subunits 7OE, 8a∗ and 8b∗ associated with superior quality. A new glutenin subunit 7b∗+8 was found in Japanese germplasm Eshimashinriki.