African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (5), pp. 497-500, 5 March 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Characterization of wheat varieties by seed storage-protein electrophoresis

Mohd Shuaib¹, Alam Zeb^1,2*, Zahir Ali¹, Waqar Ali¹, Taufiq Ahmad³ and Ikhtiar Khan²

¹Department of Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Pakistan.

²Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan.

³Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Tarnab Peshawar, Pakistan.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: Alamzeb01@yahoo.com  Tel: ++92 (945) 764131- (ext -3025). Fax: ++92 (945) 763491.

Wheat grains of thirteen varieties were collected from different ecological regions of Pakistan. The variability of seed storage-proteins was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophorogram for each variety were scored and Jaccard‘s similarity index (JSI) was calculated. Genetic diversity of wheat was evaluated by constructing the dendrogram for high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) gluten subunit bands. It is concluded that seed storage protein profiles could be useful markers in the studies of genetic diversity and classification of adapted cultivars, thereby improving the efficiency of wheat breeding programs in cultivar development especially in a developing country like Pakistan.

Key words: Wheat varieties, SDS-PAGE, genetic diversity and cluster analysis.