DISTRIBUTION OF WHEAT PROTEIN COMPONENTS UNDER DIFFERENT GENETIC BACKGROUNDS AND ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

The crude protein and protein components of fourteen commercial bread wheat cultivars grown in Eastern Croatia over two years and three locations were evaluated. Protein components were measured by reversed phase – high pressure liquid chromatography. A dominant effect of genotypes was obtained for the proportion of albumins and globulins, γ- gliadins and total glutenins, while year had a more pronounced impact on crude protein, total gliadins and high molecular weights and low molecular weights glutenin subunits. Locations had the strongest influence on total extracted proteins. Variability of gliadins to glutenins ratio was at the same extent influenced by the genotype and the year. Among interactions, genotype x year and year x location had the highest impact on evaluated proteins. The principal component analysis showed that wheat cultivars were differentiated according to variability of grain protein components. Considering the significant impact of proteins on the wheat bread-making quality, cultivar classification by protein components significantly contributes to the improvement of breeding program towards the creation of high quality cultivars.