Isoenzyme differences between the wild diploid and tetraploid wheats

Variability of acid phosphatase (ACP), esterase (EST), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) isoenzymes among 660 accessions of wild diploid wheats Triticum boeoticum (475) and T. urartu (185) and among 35 accessions of wild tetraploid wheats T. araraticum (21) and T. dicoccoides (14) was studied with the use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The wild diploids are differentiated by the electrophoretic variants of ACP-B, ACP-C, EST-A, EST-B, EST-C, EST-D, and SOD-B. Triticum urartu matches the A genome of wild tetraploid wheats T. araraticum and T. dicoccoides by allozymes of ACP-B, ACP-C and SOD-B, but differs distinctly by the monomorphic allozyme EST-A66. Triticum boeoticum fits the A genome of polyploid wheats by allozymes of EST-A and EST-B, but differs in allozymes of ACP-B and SOD-B. Thus, none of the two contemporary diploid wheats corresponds exactly to the A genome of wild tetraploid wheats by all diagnostic isoenzymes. Triticum boeoticum and T. arararicum share EST-C46 and EST-D71, whereas T. urartu and T. dicoccoides are fixed for silent EST-C0 and share EST-D73, suggesting independent origin of the two tetraploid wheats with a contribution from ancestral forms of both diploids.