Comparison of genetic diversity at prolamin loci in Moroccan durum wheat accessions

Hafida Zarkti, Hassan Ouabbou, Mouna Taghouti, Abderraouf Hilali, Sripada M. Udupa. (30/9/2010). Comparison of genetic diversity at prolamin loci in Moroccan durum wheat accessions. PLANT OMICS, 3 (5), pp. 154-158.

Abstract

Morocco is characterized by its tremendous diversity at all levels for various species, including several crop species, such as durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum). The precise identification and characterization of the accessions conserved in the National Genebank of Morocco is of great value for quantifying the extent of genetic diversity within accessions, detecting duplications of genetic materials in germplasm collection, improving and securing durum wheat cultivars in Morocco and in the world. The objective of the present study was to characterize a subset of 23 Moroccan durum wheat accessions held in the genebank for their variability related to quality properties using protein markers of prolamin loci (gliadin and glutenin). The allelic variation at prolamin proteins were studied using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis namely, A-PAGE and SDS-PAGE. The prolamin differences in the durum accessions were analyzed at the Glu-A1, Glu-A2, Glu-A3/Glu-B3/Glu-B2, and Gli-B1 loci. For the HMW-GS, all the durum wheat accessions studied possess the null subunit at Glu-A1, except for the accession number 4 which possesses the HMW-GS1. At the Glu-B1 alleles, results showed that the majority of accessions possess subunits 20x + 20y or subunit 20; accessions 2, 4, and 19 possess subunits 6 + 8; accession 18 possesses subunit 7 and accessions 6, 7, and 22 possess subunits 7 + 8. The electrophoretic data indicated that the evaluated germplasm encompasses useful variations at prolamin loci. Further investigations are in progress to study the genetic variations in Moroccan durum wheat collection using molecular markers.