Effect of Chromosome 1B on Gluten Strength and Other Characteristics of Durum Wheat 1

Gluten strength is one of the most important quality characteristics of durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum L. var. durum ) and affects the cooking quality of spaghetti, reduces breakage loss of macaroni and other short goods during processing and transportation, and affects the organoleptic properties of pasta products. Chromosome 1B has been shown to be of special importance in determining gluten strength in durum wheat. Most of these studies have used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to separate the proteins of wheat and to show the relationship with measures of gluten strength such as sedimentation height, mixogram score, etc. In order to more directly assess the importance of chromosome 1B in comparison with other chromosomes, ‘Langdon’ durum nullisomic for chromosome 1B and disomic for chromosome 1D from ‘Chinese Spring’ was crossed with two strong gluten cultivars, ‘Edmore’ and ‘Kharkof‐5’. The 1B chromosomes from the two strong gluten cultivars were substituted for the 1B chromosome of Langdon by repeated backcrossing, and the resulting Langdon 1B substitution lines were compared with the recurrent parent Langdon and the donor parents in replicated field trials grown at three locations in North Dakota. In all cases, the 1B substitution lines had gluten strength like the donor parent rather than the Langdon parent. In other characteristics, the substitution lines resembled Langdon except that glume color of the substitution lines was like the donor parent. Consequently, it was concluded that chromosome 1B of durum wheat is far more important than any other chromosome in determining gluten strength.