Quality of wheat cultivars created at the Agricultural Institute Osijek in relation to high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) composition

Background and Purpose: The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) composition of the Glu-1 loci on the quality of winter wheat cultivars created at the Agicultural Institute Osijek. Materials and Methods: Ten winter wheat cultivars were grown in 4 different locations during two years in a randomized complete block (RCB) experimental design with three repetitions at each location. Samples were collected and subjected to quality analysis and determination of HMW-GS composition by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyactylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Results: Considering the HMW-GS composition, the most frequent subunit at the Glu-A1 locus was N, at the Glu-B1 locus 7+9 and at the Glu-D1 locus 2+12. The analyzed cultivar Demetra, with subunits 5+10 at the Glu-D1 locus, has shown the best bread-making quality.) Among cultivars with subunits 2+12 at the Glu-D1 locus, the cultivars with subunits 7+8 at the Glu-B1 locus have shown on average better characteristics of gluten strength with regard to higher values of Gluten Index and;resistance to exstensibility ratio (R/Ext). The results of the linear correlation between quality parameters and HMW-GS composition, expressed as the Glu-1 score, have shown the most significant (P < 0.05) influence of HMW-GS on Gluten Index (r=0.42), dough energy (r=0.48) and dough maximum resistance (r=0.47). Conclusions: These results indicated that the presence of HMW-GS 5+10 and 7+8 contributes to higher bread-making quality of analyzed cultivars. The HMW-GS composition has predictive value in quality analysis, therefore. the composition of HMW-GS at the Glu-1 loci has to be taken into consideration when parents for a bread wheat breeding programme are chosen.