Wheat Glutenin polymers 2. The role of wheat glutenin subunits in polymer formation and dough quality

The high- and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits are major contributors to dough strength and elasticity, through their influence on glutenin polymer structure. The study of their genetics, diversity, and role in quality characteristics has been facilitated by the development of genetic materials and analytical tools. Induced and natural mutants have been used to confirm the importance of the number and location of cysteine residues in modulating the size distribution of the glutenin polymers with the presence of an additional cysteine in the central repetitive domain of the HMW-GS having a negative role on polymer formation. The application of genomics and proteomics the integration of datasets from these technologies have facilitated the identification, cloning and functional analysis of genes encoding novel HMW-GS and LMW-GS and have also allowed the identification of post-translational modifications (PTMs) and elucidated their roles in determining dough quality.