Isolation and characterization of two gamma gliadin proteins from durum wheat

Abstract

Gamma gliadins 42 and 45, which are correlated with poor and good quality, respectively, in durum wheat, were isolated and characterized. Comparison of the two proteins revealed identity in the sequence of amino acids in their N-terminal regions, but slight differences in their molecular weights and amino acid compositions. The most significant differences between gliadins 42 and 45 related to variations in the positions of cysteine residues in their amino acid sequences. These differences, coupled with inferred differences in hydrophobicity, may indicate that these proteins may make a contribution to dough properties additional to that of the low molecular weight glutenin subunits whose coding genes are tightly linked to those of these gliadins.