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Title: The gene space in wheat: the complete y-gliadin gene family from the wheat cultivar Chinese Spring

Author
item Anderson, Olin
item HUO, NAXIN - University Of California
item Gu, Yong

Submitted to: Functional and Integrative Genomics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2013
Publication Date: 4/9/2013
Citation: Anderson, O.D., Huo, N., Gu, Y.Q. 2013. The gene space in wheat: the complete y-gliadin gene family from the wheat cultivar Chinese Spring. Functional and Integrative Genomics. 10.1007/s10142-013-0321-8.

Interpretive Summary: The gamma-gliadin seed proteins of wheat are one of the major constituents of the wheat grain and are involved in forming the visco-elastic properties of wheat doughs. These proteins are also believed to be a major elicitor of celiac disease - an autoimmune pathology that affects as much as one person in 100 to some degree. This report describes the complete sequences for the gamma-gliadin gene and protein family for a single wheat cultivar and provides a basis for understanding the structure and evolution of these important proteins and a firmer basis for any attempts to ameliorate their effects on celiac patients.

Technical Abstract: The complete set of unique y-gliadin genes is described for the wheat cultivar Chinese Spring using a combination of EST and Roche 454 DNA sequences. Assemblies of Chinese Spring ESTs yielded eleven different gamma-gliadin gene sequences. Two of the sequences encode identical polypeptides and are assumed to be the result of a recent gene duplication. A second assembly of Chinese Spring gamma-gliadin sequences was generated using Roche 454 total genomic DNA sequences. The 454 assembly confirmed the same eleven active genes as the EST assembly plus two pseudogenes not represented by ESTs. Comparison with ESTs of two other hexaploid cultivars (Butte 86 and Recital) finds most active genes are present in all three cultivars, with exceptions likely due to too few ESTs for detection in Butte 86 and Recital. Comparison of the numbers of ESTs per gene indicates differential levels of expression within the gamma-gliadin gene family. Genome assignments were made for six of the thirteen Chinese Spring gamma-gliadin genes, i.e., one assignment from a match to two gamma-gliadin genes found within a tetraploid wheat A-genome BAC, and four genes that match four distinct gamma-gliadin sequences assembled from Roche 454 sequences from Aegilops tauschii, the hexaploid wheat D-genome ancestor.