Allelic variation in Puroindoline genes in synthetic hexaploid wheats and development of allele-specific PCR markers for new soft-texture alleles

Grain hardness is an important end-use quality trait which can significantly affect milling and processing quality of wheat. It is controlled by Puroindoline (Pin) genes in wheat, of which Pina-D1 and Pinb-D1 control major phenotypic variation, while Pinb-B2 explain moderate variation. We analyzed the allelic variation of three Pin genes in a panel of 227 synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHWs) using allele-specific markers either previously available or newly developed in this study to identify new alleles and facilitate their introgression. Eight different alleles were identified in Pina-D1 gene using six newly developed markers. The wild-type alleles, Pina-D1a and Pinb-D1a, were identified in 11.6 and 24.2