Polymorphism and inheritance of gliadin components controlled by chromosome 6A of spring durum wheat.

The gliadin composition of 78 spring durum wheat varieties has been studied by one-dimensional (Al-lactate, pH 3.1) and two-dimensional (first dimension, Al-lactate, pH 3.1; second dimension, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel) electrophoresis. Analysis of hybrids has shown that all components of the alpha zone of gliadin spectra are inherited together as blocks and are, probably, coded for by a cluster of tightly linked genes located on chromosome 6A. Fourteen variants of gliadin blocks have been identified, which can be classified into five families on the basis of component composition. All families but one have analogues among chromosome 6A-controlled blocks of bread wheat. The results indicate that some of the genome A diploid genotypes that were ancestors of durum wheats were also ancestors of bread wheats and that polyploid wheats were produced by repeated allopolyploidization events, as has been suggested earlier.