Waxy proteins in diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid wheats

Electrophoretic analyses of waxy proteins, encoded by genes present at the Wx-1 loci, present in several cultivars and accessions of hexaploid wheat, Triticum aestivum , have permitted the detection of null alleles at the Wx-B1 and Wx-D1 loci. Polymorphism at the Wx-A1 and Wx-B1 loci was also investigated in several accessions of tetraploid wheats, Triticum durum , Triticum dicoccoides and Triticum timopheevi , and in diploid species, Triticum urartu , Triticum boeoticum and Triticum monococcum. One null allele at the Wx-A1 locus and three polymorphic alleles at Wx-B1 locus were detected in T. durum ; a new allele at one of the two waxy loci was identified in the tetraploid wheat T. timopheevi ; no polymorphism was detected in diploid species. Polymerase chain reaction techniques made possible the detection of further polymorphism existing at the Wx-1 loci and the reason for the lack of expression of the null genotypes to be investigated. The null forms detected at each locus have been used to produce complete sets of partial and total waxy lines in durum and bread wheat.