Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #226310
Title: Genotype and environment variation for arabinoxylans in hard winter and spring wheats of the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Author
item LI, SHUOBI - NORTHWEST A&F UNIVERSITY
item Morris, Craig
item Bettge, Arthur

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/26/2008
Publication Date: 1/21/2009
Citation: Li, S., Morris, C.F., Bettge, A.D. 2009. Genotype and environment variation for arabinoxylans in hard winter and spring wheats of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Cereal Chemistry 86:88-95.

Interpretive Summary: The development of high quality wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties depends on a thorough understanding of the constituents of grain, and their variation due to genetics and environment. Arabinoxylans (pentosans) are key constituents of wheat grain and have broad and far-reaching influences on milling and baking quality. Yet, variation in arabinoxylans due to genotype and environment are not fully understood. In this study, fifty-one hard winter and spring wheat cultivars developed from eight public and private breeding programs in the U.S. Pacific Northwest were analyzed for water-extractable and total arabinoxylan contents (WE-AX and total AX), and the proportion of total AX that is water-extractable. Winter and spring genotypes were grown in three environments each. The results of the study are herein given.

Technical Abstract: The development of high quality wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties depends on a thorough understanding of the constituents of grain, and their variation due to genetics and environment. Arabinoxylans (pentosans) are key constituents of wheat grain and have broad and far-reaching influences on milling and baking quality. Yet, variation in arabinoxylans due to genotype and environment are not fully understood. In this study, fifty-one hard winter and spring wheat cultivars developed from eight public and private breeding programs in the U.S. Pacific Northwest were analyzed for water-extractable and total arabinoxylan contents (WE-AX and total AX), and the proportion of total AX that is water-extractable. Winter and spring genotypes were grown in three environments each. The results indicated that there were significant differences among both sets of hard wheat genotypes for WE-AX, total AX and proportion of total AX that is WE-AX. The WE-AX and total AX mean content ranges for the winter varieties were 0.390 to 0.808% and 3.09 to 4.04%, respectively; and for the spring varieties 0.476 to 0.919% and 3.94 to 4.70%, respectively. WE-AX as a percentage of total AX was similar between the two genotypes sets, ranging from 11.64 to 21.60%. Arabinoxylan fractions were generally not correlated with grain protein and test weight, the two highest correlations being protein and total AX for winter wheats (r = -0.40) and test weight and percentage of total AX that were water-extractable (r = 0.29) for winter wheats. Among spring wheats, SKCS hardness was negatively correlated with WE-AX and proportion of total0 AX that was WE-AX. Although often significant, arabinoxylan fractions were usually not highly inter-correlated, indicating some independence of traits. Notable genotypes, being especially high or low for one or more arabinoxylan fraction and thus candidates for further genetic study and cross-breeding included Juniper, Eddy and ORN980995 winter wheats, and Hollis, Alta Blanca and WQL9HALP spring wheats. Although the results indicate that arabinoxylan fractions of wheat grain can be highly influenced by environment, there is clear support for the existence of genetic differences, especially for WE-AX and the proportion of total AX that is water-extractable. As such, the manipulation of arabinoxylan content of wheat grain seems to be a reasonable breeding objective.