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Characterization of Starch in Aegilops Species

¹Plant Breeding Institute, Woolley Bldg A20, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. ²Quality Wheat CRC Ltd., Private Bag 1345, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia. ³Corresponding author. Phone: +61 2 9351 4594; Fax +61 2 9351 4172; E-mail Stoddard@mail.usyd.edu.au or Fstoddard@wheatcrc.csiro.au

Starch was extracted and cleaned from 99 accessions of 20 species of Aegilops and also from 200 accessions of hexaploid wheat. Amylose content was determined by iodine staining and absorbance at 535 and 620 nm. Particle-size distribution was determined by laser scattering. The amylose content of the Aegilops accessions did not exceed the extremes found in domesticated wheat. Aegilops species, on the whole, had a lower content of small particles than the hexaploid wheats. There was no correlation between amylose content and particle-size distribution. Some species of Aegilops may be useful sources of low-starch B-type granules for hexaploid wheat, if the trait can be transferred, but they are unlikely to contribute to further variation in amylose content.