Analysis of high molecular weight glutenin subunits composition of bread wheat cultivars released in Hebei province from 1949 to 2008

Subunit compositon of high molecular weight glutenins(HMW-GS) in seed kernels is of great importance for wheat quality improvements.In this study,one hundred and forty-eight accessions of bread wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) released during 1965-2008 in Hebei,China,were analyzed with SDS-PAGE methods.The results showed that a total of 16 HMW-GS and 43 subunit combinations were detected in the cultivars studied.Of the 16 subunits,null,'7+9' and '2+12' were predominant types encoded by genes located in Glu-A1,Glu-B1 and Glu-D1,respectively.Of the 43 HMW-GS subunit combinations,'null/7+9/2+12' occurred predominantly.HMW-GS and corresponding combinations for quality were poor in the cultivars analyzed.Though the historical changes of HMW-GS in Hebei wheat cultivars implied frequencies of some good subunits and their combinations increased to some extent,enancement of such good subunits in future breeding programs need to be strenthened.