Allelic variation at high-molecular weight and low-molecular weight glutenin subunit genes in Moroccan bread wheat and durum wheat cultivars

The results obtained in this report describing the allelic compositions of Moroccan bread and durum wheat cultivars may have high allelic variability. From this analysis,two points were important. Our results obtained using PCR markers are similar to those reported previously by Bakhella and Branlard (1997) and Zarkti et al. (2010) forHMW-GS proteins in which they use SDS-PAGE. Hence, this study proves the efficiency of molecular markers to identify the correct glutenin alleles, in a non-destructive way. In general, Moroccan bread wheat cultivars carried alleles associated to good bread-making quality. However, in durum wheat cultivars, most of the alleles related to low strength dough and need to be improved. Even though many of the durum wheat cultivars and some of the bread wheat cultivars having genes for resistance to the Hessian fly could be used as donors in the breeding program, the glutenin alleles such as Glu-A1c and Glu-B3d should be avoided during selection in the breeding program. This research paper was developed as part of the implementation of the project “In vitro culture and genomics-assisted fast track improvement of local landraces of wheat and barley in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria for enhancing food security and adaptation to climate change” , through the creation and dissemination of an international database to promote the use of wheat genetic resources and increase genetic gains” funded the 3rd cycle of the Benefit Sharing Fund (BSF) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with financial support from the European Union (EU).