DisplayTitle

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Microspectroscopic Genetic Expression of the Waxy Trait in Isogenic Durum and Common Wheat¹

¹Contribution number 11-158-J, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, KS. Data excerpted from Brewer's (2009) master's thesis. ²Microbeam Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory and Grain Science Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. ³Corresponding author. Fax: 785-532-7010. E-mail: dwetzel@ksu.edu

The aim of recent breeding activity is to develop new wheat lines that incorporate desirable traits that are advantageous in baking and milling. Waxy wheats differ from wild-type ones in functionality, end use, and biochemical contents (e.g., amylopectin/amylose ratios and lipid contents). Previous waxy wheat investigations focused only on differences in the carbohydrate and protein fractions. The goals of this work were to apply chemical imaging to discriminate between waxy and wild-type wheats and to define contrasting lipid profiles that occur in the deliberate alteration of the carbohydrate fraction. Fourier transform infrared (IR) microspectroscopic in situ probing and imaging of kernel sections was applied with the use of high spatial resolution. Mid-IR provided chemical manifestation of lipid genetic expression in isogenic samples. All waxy wheat specimens contained higher lipid content, mostly in the form of glycolipids. The relative lipid profiles differed among common, durum, and waxy wheats. Isogenic partial waxy cultivars and advanced breeding lines were also examined.