ITEMS FROM JAPAN

GIFU UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Agriculture, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193 Japan.

N. Watanabe.

Development of near-isogenic lines in durum wheat: further progress.

The genes controlling several recessive traits have been introduced into the genetic background of the durum wheat LD222. The following lines were backcrossed six times, and one of the lines was utilized in the experimental work: (1) two Chlorina mutants (on 7A and 7B), (2) a double recessive yellow mutant, (3) nonglaucousness (on 2B), and (4) reduced height trait (on 4B).

Genes for long glume from a Chinese landrace, T. petropavlobskyi and brittle rachis from T. turgidum subsp. dicoccoides (on 3A and 3B, respectively) also were introduced into the LD222 genetic background, although they required more backcrosses.

Development of near-isogenic lines in hexaploid wheat.

A set of NILs was developed in the genetic background of Novosibirskaya 67 (N67) by S.F. Koval, Russian Federation. Novosibirskaya 67 grows well in the climate at Gifu. The following traits were introduced into the N67 background; however, they will require more backcrosses: brittle rachis from T. turgidum subsp. dicoccoides (on 3A and 3B) and T. tibetanum (on 3D), semi-brittle rachis from T. yunnanennse, tenacious glume from T. tibetanum (on 2D) and T. yunnanennse, long glume from T. ispahanicum (7B) and T. petropavlobskyi, and chlorina from the CDd2 mutant (on 7B).

TOHOKU NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Morioka, Iwate 020-0198, Japan.

H. Nakamura.

Identification of Japanese commercial varieties with respect to HMW-glutenin subunit composition.

In Japan, wheat breeding initially started at the National Agriculture Experimental Station in the early part of the 20th century. The Norin numbering system was used to designate the variety of wheat. The Norin varieties are major bread and cultivated wheats in Japan and are very important for Japanese wheat production. Wheat seed proteins were extracted in a Tris-HCl buffer (pH6.8) containing SDS and separated by SDS-PAGE. The HMW-glutenin subunit were resolved into three to five bands, each with its own electrophoretic mobility. Table 1 shows the HMW-glutenin subunit compositions in Japanese hexaploid wheat varieties.

Publications.

• Nakamura H. 1999. Identification of alleles for complex gene loci Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1, which code for high molecular weight subunits of glutenin in Japanese hexaploid wheat varieties. J Agric Food Chem 47(12):5273-5277.