The genetic diversity of gliadins in Aegilops geniculata from Algeria

The gliadins of the wild wheat Aegilops geniculata represent a valuable gene pool in breeding for bread making quality. The genetic diversity of gliadins in A. geniculata was studied among 36 of its accessions, collected in the north of Algeria, using acid polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (Acid-PAGE). In total, sixty-one polymorphic bands and 35 gliadin patterns were identified. Twenty-eight different bands and 34 patterns were found in the ω-gliadin region, 13 polymorphic bands and 33 patterns for γ-gliadins, 12 bands and 34 different patterns for β-gliadins and eight bands in combination resulted in 25 different patterns in the α-gliadin zone. Thirty-five patterns were found for each of the Gli-1 (γ/ω region) and Gli-2 (α/β region) loci. The genetic diversity index (H) was higher for ω-gliadins (0.968), followed by γ- and β-gliadins (0.964 and 0.961, respectively), and the lowest value was detected in α-gliadin patterns (0.944). Cluster analysis based on Ward's method divided the analysed collection into five separated groups in which genetic diversity did not follow the geographical distribution. The polymorphism observed in the electrophoretic patterns highlights close correlations between bioclimatic features and some ω-gliadin proteins.