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How Important Are Genetic Diversity and Cultivar Uniformity in Wheat? The Case of Gliadins
by
Eugene Metakovsky
Eugene Metakovsky 1,*,
Viktor A. Melnik
Viktor A. Melnik 2,
Laura Pascual
Laura Pascual 1 and
Colin W. Wrigley
Colin W. Wrigley 3
1
Department of Biotechnology-Plant Biology, School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
2
Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119991, Russia
3
QAAFI, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Genes 2024, 15(7), 927; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15070927 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 18 April 2024
/
Revised: 11 July 2024
/
Accepted: 15 July 2024
/
Published: 16 July 2024
Abstract
Improvements in self-pollinated crops rely on crosses between different genotypes. It has been suggested that the repeated use of “the best” genotypes may lead to the restriction of the genetic diversity of the crop. In wheat, the analysis of gliadin (storage protein) polymorphism has provided evidence that genetic diversity was high and stable throughout the 20th century. Moreover, a worldwide analysis of gliadin polymorphism shows that genetic diversity is structured spatially across countries and their regions. Therefore, the analysis of gliadin genotypes in a given grain sample can provide reliable information about the origin of grains in this sample. An unexpected finding is that many registered common wheat cultivars are genetically non-uniform and composed of authentic biotypes (genotypically related lines originated from the initial cross) in spite of current crop-registration rules that include a strict demand for each new cultivar to be genetically uniform (DUS rules). In summary, the results suggest that each cultivar is the fruit of joint effects of a breeder and of a region’s environmental factors. We believe this finding will not be restricted to wheat and suggest there may be a need to re-evaluate relevant rules of cultivar registration for crop species in general.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Metakovsky, E.; Melnik, V.A.; Pascual, L.; Wrigley, C.W.
How Important Are Genetic Diversity and Cultivar Uniformity in Wheat? The Case of Gliadins. Genes 2024, 15, 927.
https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15070927
AMA Style
Metakovsky E, Melnik VA, Pascual L, Wrigley CW.
How Important Are Genetic Diversity and Cultivar Uniformity in Wheat? The Case of Gliadins. Genes. 2024; 15(7):927.
https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15070927
Chicago/Turabian Style
Metakovsky, Eugene, Viktor A. Melnik, Laura Pascual, and Colin W. Wrigley.
2024. "How Important Are Genetic Diversity and Cultivar Uniformity in Wheat? The Case of Gliadins" Genes 15, no. 7: 927.
https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15070927
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