Cluster analysis of historical and modern hard red spring wheat cultivars based on parentage and HPLC analysis of gluten forming proteins

Authors: MALALGODA, MANEKA - North Dakota State University; Ohm, Jae-Bom; MEINHARDT, STEVEN - North Dakota State University; Chao, Shiaoman; SIMSEK, SENAY - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/8/2017
Publication Date: 5/9/2017
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5683897
Citation: Malalgoda, M., Ohm, J.-B., Meinhardt, S., Chao, S., Simsek, S. 2017. Cluster analysis of historical and modern hard red spring wheat cultivars based on parentage and HPLC analysis of gluten-forming proteins. Cereal Chemistry. 94:560-567.

Interpretive Summary: In this study, 30 hard red spring (HRS) wheat cultivars released between 1910 and 2013 were analyzed to determine how they could be grouped in terms of parentage information and protein composition. For this, a statistical method called cluster analysis was performed using parentage information and protein composition data obtained from analytical methods such as reverse-phase HPLC, and size-exclusion HPLC. Genetic markers related to plant height for wheat were also assessed to determine influence of the introduction of reduced height genes on quality traits for HRS wheat cultivars. Overall, the results indicated that the introduction of reduced height genes in wheat accompanied the improvements of dough mixing and breadmaking quality characteristics in over the last 100 years of HRS wheat breeding. No difference was observed for the profiles of gliadin proteins which are alcohol soluble proteins in wheat and known to cause celiac problem in human. This result suggests that wheat breeding effort might not have changed the composition of gliadin proteins for HRS wheat cultivars. Certain fractions of gluten proteins that showed changes in the quantity and, sequentially, had significant associations with quality traits were identified. The information obtained in this research may be an important reference for quality evaluation in HRS wheat breeding program.

Technical Abstract: In this study, 30 hard red spring (HRS) wheat cultivars released between 1910 and 2013 were analyzed to determine how they cluster in terms of parentage and protein data, analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) of gliadins, and size-exclusion HPLC (SE-HPLC) of unreduced proteins. Dwarfing genes in the cultivars were also assessed to determine differences between clusters. In terms of parentage, the clusters formed were grouped according to release year and semi-dwarf characteristics. Some farinograph characteristics showed significant (P = 0.05) differences between clusters, indicating improvement of mixing characteristics as a result of breeding efforts. In the dendrogram based on the binary data of gliadin RP-HPLC peaks, the clusters were not grouped according to release year, semi-dwarfism, and mixing characteristics. The clusters based on absorbance area of RP-HPLC and SE-HPLC showed significant (P = 0.05) differences for release year, and farinograph parameters. Overall, the results indicated that the introduction of reduced height genes accompanied the improvements of dough mixing and breadmaking quality characteristics in HRS wheat, and that the gliadin protein profile was not affected by the introduction of these genes, although the quantity of certain fractions of gluten proteins changed over the last 100 years of HRS wheat breeding.