Cultivar identification of Vicia faba (L.) by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of seed globulins

The globulin fraction isolation from Vicia faba seeds of different cultivars and different lines of the same cultivar has been examined by sodium dodecyl sulphate-poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The technique separates the globulin polypeptides into three distinct groups, termed A, B and C, with molecular weights above 46 kD, between 30–40 kD and below 26 kD, respectively. Distinct differences between polypeptide patterns of the different cultivars and of the different lines of the same cultivar were observed in groups A and B, little variation occurred in group C. Gradient zonal isoelectric precipitation was used to separate the globulin fraction of different cultivars into vicilin and legumin. Variation in polypeptide composition between cultivars was observed in both vicilin and legumin following SDS-PAGE. No difference between cultivars was detected in group C polypeptides of legumin.