Comparison of wheat varieties by starch-gel electrophoresis of their grain proteins

Single extraction of wheat flour with water proved to be necessary for obtaining clear electropherograms of the albumin/globulin fraction; triple extraction was required to obtain a clear distinction of the gliadin components. As the ‘electrophoretic mobility’ does not have a constant value, a different characteristic, the R_v value, analogous to the R_t value in chromatography, is suggested as a measure of the relative mobility of the components, a characteristic which is not affected by experimental factors. From densitograms of gliadin fractions, 80 wheat varieties and selected lines from various parts of the world were arranged into five main groups, which formed a morphological series. Each main group comprised of a number of sub-groups which in certain cases were found to be based on genetic relationships. Densitograms of the albumin/globulin fractions could be used in conjunction with those of the gliadins for determination of wheat varieties.