ABSTRACT
Endosperm texture in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is determined by the Pina and Pinb genes located within the Hardness (Ha) locus on chromosome 5D. We have previously shown that Pina and Pinb can act alone to produce intermediate-textured grain or act together to produce soft grain. The objective here was to isolate the role of PINA and PINB individually and in combination on milling and bread traits by analyzing F3 recombinant lines created by crosses between PINA and PINB null cultivars with Pina-D1a and Pinb-D1a overexpressing transgenic lines. Homozygous lines that contained either the Pina-D1b/Pinb-D1a (Pina null) or Pina-D1a/Pinb-D1e (Pinb null) Ha locus with or lacking transgenically added Pina or Pinb were analyzed for milling and bread traits. Addition of Pina-D1a to Pina-D1b/Pinb-D1a and addition of Pinb-D1a to Pina-D1a/Pinb-D1e Ha locus genotypes gave soft grain with lower flour yield, flour ash, and a higher proportion of small flour particles. Addition of Pinb-D1a produced greater negative effects on loaf volume than addition of Pina-D1a. Grain hardness, flour protein, flour ash, and mixograph water absorption were positively correlated, which is indicative of the complex phenotype conditioned by PINs. The results demonstrate that PIN overexpression leads to a reduction in grain hardness and reduced flour yield, flour ash, and flour particle size. PIN expression also results in reduced loaf volume and flour water absorption.
