Gliadins are the main class of wheat seed storage proteins. Since gliadins show a high level of polymorphism as well as genetically fixed, it can be used as a marker for the genetic identification. Gliadin subunit diversity information can be useful for wheat quality breeding programs. Tunisia is a country in the North Africa bordered with the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the east but with the Sahara desert to the south, which represent extremely different growth climate. Therefore, there may be a numerous variation in Tunisian common wheat and durum wheat. Total 48 lines of wheat consisted of 32 common wheat (16 Korean wheat and 16 Tunisian common wheat) and 16 Tunisian durum wheat were incorporated in this study. Gliadins were extracted with 70% ethanol and fractionated by acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (A-PAGE) at 8% in aluminum lactate buffer (pH 3.1). The gel was stained with 0.25% Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250. The presence of each gliadin subunit band was scored and cluster analysis was carried out. The cluster showed that wheat varieties were classified into some groups and their genetic distance could be identified. The obtained information will be helpful to the future breeding program of tetraploid durum wheat as well as hexaploid common wheats. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2012K1A3A1A09028123) and carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project title: Development of high yielding wheat with stress tolerance via molecular breeding strategies, Project No. PJ008031)”, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Soil salinity limits crop productivity in many regions. This problem would be more serious as the global climate changes and worldwide water shortages would accelerate soil salinization. This study is fulfilled with aim on resolve crop cultivation in dry/saline land as an international joint research project with Tunisia. Total 48 lines of wheat cultivars including 32 common wheat (16 Korean wheat, 16 Tunisian common wheat) and 16 Tunisian durum wheat were incorporated in this study. Salt stress was applied for 2 weeks by submerging the pots into 500 mM NaCl at 3-leaf stage followed by re-watering for restoration in greenhouse. Numerous agronomic/growth parameters were scored for tolerence. SSR primers that have been known to be related to salt tolerance were applied to explain selected population. The correlation between PCR-based length polymorphism of selected lines and their resistance were evaluated. The obtained information will aid selection for salt tolerance hexa/tetraploid wheats. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2012K1A3A1A09028123) and carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project title: Development of high yielding wheat with stress tolerance via molecular breeding strategies, Project No. PJ008031)”, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Drought tolerance is the ability of a plant to live, grow, and reproduce properly with limited water supply or under periodic conditions of water deficit. However, the climate changes and worldwide water shortages would result in the loss of applied water to irrigated land, increasing soil water deficit. To control the situation, we have carried out the international joint research project for the aim of developing that drought tolerance common wheat and durum wheat in Korea and Tunisia. Total 79 (41 common wheat, 39 durum wheat) Tunisian lines and 33 Korean wheat cultivars were incorporated in this study. Drought stress was applied for 25 days of stopping irrigation from the 3-leaf stage followed by re-watering for restoration in greenhouse. We selected top 13 (5 Korean line, 8 Tunisian line) tolerant lines and 11 (5 Korean, 6 Tunisian) susceptible lines based on growth parameter analysis. Primers (Operon primers and wheat Dreb1 gene) that have been known to be related drought resistance were applied to explain selected population. The correlation between PCR-based length polymorphism of selected lines and their resistance were evaluated. The obtained primer information will aid selection for drought tolerance durum as well as hexaploid common wheat.