Identification of vetch species of the genus Vicia L. by the composition of the 11S globulin basic polypeptides of seeds using V. narbonensis complex and V. pannonica Crantz as an example

Background. The maintenance of purity, control of identity, and reproduction of seeds of different taxonomic groups of plants entering the collection requires simple and rapid screening methods that allow preliminary identification and registration of the material. The most suitable method for these purposes is SDS-electrophoresis of seed storage proteins, but its variants known from the literature mainly include analysis of the total protein pattern, which is usually very heterogeneous and thus complicates the interpretation of the obtained results. The objective of the work was to find a clearly identifiable and species-specific group of polypeptides of a particular protein in this multicomponent pattern. Materials and methods. The objects of the study were seed proteins of 47 accessions of five species of Vicia L. subgenus Vicia , analyzed by SDS-electrophoresis in 12.5% PAAG. Results and discussion. A comparison of patterns of the total extracted seed proteins separated by electrophoresis in the presence and absence of 2-mercaptoethanol identified a group of the 11S globulin (legumin) basic polypeptides, which allows visual unambiguous determination of a species (both self- and cross-pollinated) to which vetch seeds belong. It was found that the accessions differed only in the intensity of individual bands within the species, but not in the band composition, indicating the species-specific pattern of the 11S globulin basic polypeptides. Clear differences in the basic polypeptides composition were observed between the closely related species of the V. narbonensis complex, which are difficult to distinguish in the field. The species specificity of the patterns in this group of polypeptides correlates with the reproductive isolation of the species. In turn, cultivated and weedy accessions of Pannonian vetch, V. pannonica Crantz, of different geographical origins from the VIR collection with a likely predominance of cross-pollination showed homogeneity in the patterns of the legumin basic polypeptides. The patterns of the 11S globulin basic polypeptides of V. hyaeniscyamus Mout., V. narbonensis L., V. serratifolia Jacq., V. johannis Tamamschjan in Karyagin, and V. pannonica were recorded using the “soybean scale” in the form of a “polypeptide formula”. Conclusion . Therefore, the proposed method, including the identification of the 11S globulin basic polypeptides in the multicomponent pattern of seed proteins, can be recommended for rapid screening of seed collections of both self-pollinated and cross-pollinated species of the genus Vicia . This simple method is also promising for identifying species of other dicotyledonous crops.