Mixing properties and dough functionality of transgenic lines of a commercial wheat cultivar expressing the 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 HMW glutenin subunit genes

Abstract

In this work we report the effects of the HMW-GS 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 on the breadmaking quality of the bread wheat cultivar Anza that contains the HMW-GS pairs 1Dx2 + 1Dy12 and 1Bx7* + 1By8, and is null for the Glu-A1 locus. This allows the characterization of individual subunits 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 in the absence of subunit 1Dx5, and the interactions between these subunits and subunits 1Dx2 and 1Dy12 to be determined. Three transgenic lines termed T580, T581 and T590, containing, respectively, the HMW-GS 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 were characterized over 3 years using a range of widely-used grain and dough testing methods. The transgenic subunits 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 accounted for 25.2%, 20.3% and 17.9%, respectively, of the total HMW-GS in the three transgenic lines. Although lines T581 and T590 expressed similar levels of subunits 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 they had different effects on other aspects of protein composition, including changes in the ratios of glutenin/gliadin, of HMW/LMW-GS, the 1Dx2/1Dy12, the x-type/y-type HMW-GS and the proportions of high molecular mass glutenin polymers. In contrast, lines transformed to express subunits 1Ax1 and 1Dx5 showed similar changes in protein composition, with higher protein contents and decreased ratios of glutenin/gliadin and 1Dx2/1Dy12. In addition, both transgenic lines showed similar increases in the ratio of x-type/y-type subunits compared to the control line. The transgenic lines were analysed using Farinograph, Mixograph and Alveograph. This confirmed that the expression of all three subunits resulted in increased dough strength (and hence breadmaking quality) of the cultivar Anza. A beneficial effect of subunit 1Dx5 has not been reported previously, transgenic wheat lines expressing this subunit giving overstrong dough unsuitable for breadmaking. However, the expression of subunit 1Dy10 had a greater effect on breadmaking quality than subunits 1Ax1 and 1Dx5. The Farinograph parameters such as dough stability and peak time were increased by 9.2-fold and 2.4-fold, respectively, in line T590 (expressing 1Dy10) with respect to the control line. Similarly, the Mixograph mixing time was increased by four-fold and the resistance breakdown decreased by two-fold in line T590 compared with the control line. The Alveograph W value was also increased by 2.7-fold in line T590 compared to the control line. These transgenic lines are of value for studying the contribution of specific HMW-GS to wheat flour functional properties.