Effect of ω-Secalin Gene Silencing on Processing Quality of Wheat 1B/1R Translocation Line

Abstract

Omega-secalin is an important factor for the poor processing quality of wheat 1B/1R translocation lines. In this study, an expression vector of silencing ω-secalin gene was constructed and transferred into wheat variety Jinhe 9123 via Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EH105. The three T0 transgenic plants obtained were consecutively multiplied after PCR validation until the T4 lines. Acid-PAGE assay indicated that total amount of ω-secalins in the transgenic lines decreased 53% on average compared with that in their respective control. In the three homozygous transgenic lines, gluten index, precipitation value, and stabilization time increased significantly, whereas the agronomic traits, such as plant height, grain number per spike, 1000-grain weight and plot yield, had no significant changes compared with those in the wild type. These results suggest that silencing ω-secalin genes can improve the processing quality of wheat 1B/1R translocation lines on the premise of not affecting grain yield.