Genetic Diversity of HMW and LMW Glutenin Subunits inChinese Hexaploid Wheats

235 cultivars and advanced lines from China were used to investigate the high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS) composition controlled by the Glu-1 and Glu-3 loci. A total of 39 and 40 patterns were observed for HMW-GS and LMW-GS,respectively. 34 different alleles were identified for the 5 loci studied. 3, 8, and 6 allelic variations were present at Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1, respectively. Subunits 1, Null, 7 + 9, 5+10 and 2 + 12 were the dominant HMW GS, with frequencies of 46.2%, 46.2%, 44.5 %, 47.0 %, and 48.3 %, respectively. 6 and 11 allelic variations were present at the Glu-A3 and Glu-B3 loci (data of Glu-D3 were not available), Glu-A3c, Glu-A3d, Glu-B3e, and Glu-B3j were the dominant LMW GS, with frequencies of 55.1%, 21.6%, 28%, and 28.8%, respectively. This study represented the first attempt to estimate wheat diversity grown in China by the allelic variation of storage proteins. The database was useful for varietal identification and for plant breeders to devise effective programs aimed at improving wheat quality.