Identification of novel secaloindoline-a and secaloindoline-b alleles in CIMMYT hexaploid triticale lines

To characterize kernel hardness, an important trait in triticale breeding, and to identify secaloindoline alleles present in hexaploid triticale lines developed at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) a total of 171 secondary hexaploid lines were analyzed for grain hardness using the Single Kernel Characterization System. They showed a large spectrum of kernel hardness types, from very soft to very hard, with values ranging from 8.6 to 84.9. The occurrence of starch granule-associated friabilin was studied in 30 lines, including 10 hard, 9 mixed and 11 soft genotypes. All soft lines displayed a high level of friabilin, whereas the hard lines showed almost no friabilin, indicating that friabilin is directly involved in the formation of grain texture in secondary hexaploid triticales. Two novel secaloindoline alleles were identified and designated as Sina-R1b and Sinb-R1c. Compared with SINAa, the deduced amino acid sequence of SINAb showed a Trp to Arg substitution at position 44. SINBc had a Gly to Ser substitution at position 78 and a Gly to Arg substitution at position 115, as well as a Cys insertion in the signal peptide, in comparison to SINBa. The novel alleles Sina-R1b and Sinb-R1c were detected in both the soft and hard triticale lines.