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Effects of the different waxy proteins on starch biosynthesis, starch physicochemical properties and Chinese noodle quality in wheat

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Abstract

Noodles are an important food in Asia. Wheat starch is the most important component in Chinese noodles. Loss of the waxy genes leads to lower activity of starch synthesis enzymes and decreased amylose content that further affects starch properties and noodle quality. To study the effects of different waxy (Wx) protein subunits on starch biosynthesis and processing quality, the high-yielding wheat cultivar Jimai 22 was treated with the mutagen ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) to produce a population of Wx lines and chosen 7 Wx protein combinations. The amylose content increased but swelling power decreased as the number of Wx proteins increased. Both GBSS activity and gene expression were the lowest for the waxy mutant, followed by the mutants with 1 Wx protein. The combinations of these mutant alleles lead to reductions in both RNA expression and protein levels. Noodles made from materials with 2 Wx protein subunits had the highest score, which agreed with peak viscosity. The influence of the Wx-B1 protein on amylose synthesis and noodle quality was the highest, whereas the influence of Wx-A1 protein was the lowest. Mutants with lower amylose content caused by the absence of 1 subunit, especially the Wx-B1 subunit, had superior noodle quality. Additionally, the identified mutant lines can be used as intermediate materials to improve wheat quality.

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Funding

This work was supported by Agricultural Variety Improvement Project of Shandong Province (2019LZGC001–1–1) and Agricultural scientific and technological innovation project of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CXGC2018E01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center of Wheat and Maize/Shandong Technology Innovation Center of Wheat, Crop Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, 250100, Shandong, China

    Yan Zi, Dungong Cheng, Haosheng Li, Jun Guo, Wei Ju, Canguo Wang, Aifeng Liu, Xinyou Cao, Cheng Liu, Jianjun Liu, Zhendong Zhao & Jianmin Song

  2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, K.W. Neatby Building, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, K1A 06C, ON, UK

    D. G. Humphreys

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  1. Yan Zi
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  2. Dungong Cheng
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  12. Zhendong Zhao
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  13. Jianmin Song
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Contributions

J.M.S., Z.D.Z. and J.J.L. designed the study and interpreted the results. D.G.C., W.J., C.G.W. and J.G. performed the experiments and collected test data. Y.Z., J.M.S and D. G. H. analyzed the data, drafted and revised the manuscript. H.S.L., A.F.L., X.Y.C. and C.L. provided the writing and editing of the manuscript. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jianmin Song.

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Zi, Y., Cheng, D., Li, H. et al. Effects of the different waxy proteins on starch biosynthesis, starch physicochemical properties and Chinese noodle quality in wheat. Mol Breeding 42, 23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-022-01292-x

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