Characterization of an Integrated Active Glu-1Ay Allele in Common Wheat from Wild Emmer and Its Potential Role in Flour Improvement.

, one of six genes encoding a high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS), is frequently silenced in hexaploid common wheat. Here, an active allele of was integrated from wild emmer wheat ( ssp. ) accession D97 into the common wheat () cultivar Chuannong 16 via the repeated self-fertilization of the pentaploid interspecific hybrid, culminating in the selection of a line TaAy7-40 shown to express the wild emmer allele. The open reading frame of this allele was a 1830 bp long sequence, demonstrated by its heterologous expression in to encode a 608-residue polypeptide. Its nucleotide sequence was 99.2% identical to that of the sequence within the wild emmer parent. The TaAy7-40 introgression line containing the active allele showed higher protein content, higher sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sedimentation value, higher content of wet gluten in the flour, higher grain weight, and bigger grain size than Chuannong 16. The end-use quality parameters of the TaAy7-40 were superior to those of the medium gluten common wheat cultivars Mianmai 37 and Neimai 9. Thus, the active allele might be of potential value in breeding programs designed to improve wheat flour quality.