With 1 figure and 1 table
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to compare the durum and bread wheat alleles encoded at the Glu‐A3 locus (represented by Glu‐Ad3 and Glu‐Aa3, respectively) using PCR markers designed for bread wheat Glu‐Aa3 alleles to distinguish different durum alleles. Diversity in low‐molecular‐weight glutenin subunits (LMW‐GS) was analysed in eight cultivars representing all known Glu‐Ad3 alleles present in durum wheat. Six of the eight Glu‐Ad3 alleles of durum wheat could be distinguished using a combination of seven different primer sets based on LMW‐GS sequences from bread wheat. However, allele a (cv. ‘Mexicali’), allele b (cv. ‘Langdon’) and allele c (cv. ‘Cocorit’) of durum wheat could not be distinguished using any of the markers tested. Amplicons of identical size were produced for alleles f (cv. ‘Clarofino’) and allele g (cv. ‘Claro de Balazote’), using all except one primer set (Glu‐A3a), indicating genes of these alleles share a very high degree of identity. The markers described in this study are useful for the DNA‐based identification of durum wheat cultivars and the identification of the Glu‐Ad3 a, b, c, d, e, f, g and h alleles of durum wheat for the purposes of marker‐assisted selection.