How Important Are Genetic Diversity and Cultivar Uniformity in Wheat? The Case of Gliadins

Abstract

Improvements in self-pollinated crops rely on crosses between different genotypes. It has been suggested that the repeated use of “the best” genotypes may lead to the restriction of the genetic diversity of the crop. In wheat, the analysis of gliadin (storage protein) polymorphism has provided evidence that genetic diversity was high and stable throughout the 20th century. Moreover, a worldwide analysis of gliadin polymorphism shows that genetic diversity is structured spatially across countries and their regions. Therefore, the analysis of gliadin genotypes in a given grain sample can provide reliable information about the origin of grains in this sample. An unexpected finding is that many registered common wheat cultivars are genetically non-uniform and composed of authentic biotypes (genotypically related lines originated from the initial cross) in spite of current crop-registration rules that include a strict demand for each new cultivar to be genetically uniform (DUS rules). In summary, the results suggest that each cultivar is the fruit of joint effects of a breeder and of a region’s environmental factors. We believe this finding will not be restricted to wheat and suggest there may be a need to re-evaluate relevant rules of cultivar registration for crop species in general.