Polymorphism of omega-gliadins in durum wheat as revealed by the two-step APAGE/SDS-PAGE technique.

Polymorphism of omega-gliadins was studied in 243 durum wheats from 27 countries using the two-step one-dimensional APAGE/SDS-PAGE technique. A total of 12 bands of different mobility were observed, and four of them were found to be different from those previously detected by Khelifi et al. (1992) in bread wheat. Fifteen alleles, six coded by the Gli-A1 locus and nine coded by the Gli-B1 locus, were identified, accounting for 19 different electrophoretic patterns. Seven new alleles were detected: two at the Gli-A1 locus and five at the Gli-B1 locus. The polymorphism found at the Gli-A1 and Gli-B1 loci was slightly greater than that found in bread wheat. Allelic differences between both species were higher at the Gli-B1 locus. A comparison of the frequencies of alleles in both species was carried out. The null allele, Gli-A1e, was more common in durum wheat than in bread wheat. The Gli-B1b allele, present in 60% of the bread wheats, was found in only 2% of the durum wheats and Gli-B1e, very common in durum wheat (45%), was rare in bread wheat (4%). The Gli-B1IV allele, common in durum wheat (28%), was not detected in bread wheat.