Although it is well known that low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) affects bread and noodle processing quality, the function of specific LMW-GS proteins mostly remain unclear. It is important to find a corresponding gene for a specific LMW-GS protein in order to understand the function of the specific LMW-GS protein. The objective of this study was to identify LMW-GS genes and haplotypes using well known Glu-A3, Glu-B3 and Glu-D3 gene specific primers and to interlink their protein products by proteomic approaches in a wheat variety. A total of 36 LMW-GS genes and pseudo-genes were amplified including 11 Glu-3 gene haplotypes, designated as GluA3-13K and GluA3-22K (pseudogene) at Glu-A3 loci, GluB3-33K and GluB3-43K at Glu-B3 loci and GluD3-11K, GluD3-21K, GluD3-31K, GluD3-42K, GluD3-5K, GluD3-6K and GluD3-393K (pseudogene) at Glu-D3 loci. To determine the relationship between gene haplotypes and their protein products (to identify the corresponding LMW-GS proteins), we conducted N-terminal amino acid sequencing and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis of the 17 LMW-GS spots separated by 2-DGE. Successfully, LMW-GS proteins of the Glu-3 gene haplotypes except pseudo-genes mentioned above were identified. This is the first report on comprehensive characterization of LMW-GS genes and their corresponding proteins and establishment of specific correspondence between each other in a single wheat cultivar. Our approach will be useful to understand the molecular basis of the LMW-GS and to study their contribution to the end-use quality of flour.

Cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable and has a narrow genetic base due to intensive human selection through domestication and breeding. The low level of genetic variation between cultivated tomatoes has made it difficult to develop molecular markers for elite breeding lines. Recently, genome-wide 145,695 InDels were identified from in silico analysis of two tomato genome sequences, Heinz 1706 (S. lycoperiscum) and LA1589 (S. pimpnellifolium). Of these, 2,272 InDels were validated and 717 InDels showed polymorphism in cultivated tomatoes. In the present study, we selected 48 out of 717 InDels based on PIC value (> 0.3) and size (> 10 bp) to develop a DNA database for commercial tomato cultivars. We also used an additional set of 28 InDels that have been previously reported. These markers were distributed across 11 chromosomes with an average of 6.6 markers. A total of 48 F1 hybrid cultivars were collected from 20 seed companies and a subset of eight cultivars were used to test polymorphism of the InDel markers. The 37 InDel markers were polymorphic in these cultivars and were used to genotype additional 40 cultivars. Genetic distances and relationships between cultivars were assessed using the InDel genotypes of 48 cultivars. This analysis revealed that the InDel markers detected genetic variations to identify 46 cultivars. Our results demonstrate that the InDel markers will be a useful resource to construct a DNA database for tomato cultivars and to protect tomato breeder’s rights via variety identification.

This study was conducted to construct a DNA marker database for 38 plum varieties collected in Korea using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A set of 61 SSR primer pairs was tested to select polymorphic SSR markers between 8 varieties. Among the 61 primer pairs, 21 showed polymorphism, reproducibility and easy scoring. The genetic relationship between the 21 SSR markers and 38 varieties was analyzed. A total of 210 polymorphic amplified fragments were obtained with the 21 SSR markers. Three to seventeen SSR alleles were detected for each locus, with an average of 10.0 alleles per locus. Average polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.758, with a range from 0.549 to 0.870. A total of 210 SSR marker loci were used to calculate Jaccard’s distance coefficients for cluster analysis by an unweighted pair-group method with arithmetical average (UPGMA). The genetic distance ranged from 0.06 to 1.00 in 38 varieties. Out of 38 plum varieties, 32 were identified using the 21 SSR markers. Therefore, these SSR markers may be employed to complement distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS) tests or as potential tools to solve seed disputes regarding plums.

국내에서 수집된 블루베리 34품종의 식별을 위하여 SSR 마커를 이용하여 품종별 SSR 프로파일 데이터베이스를 구축하였다. 블루베리 품종의 식별에 적합한 마커를 선정하기 위하여 6개 품종을 대상으로 총 49개의 마커를 분석하였다. 6개 품종간에 높은 다형성과 재현성을 나타내고, 밴드패턴이 선명한 17개의 마커를 선발하여 공시된 34품종을 분석하였을 때 총 115개의 대립유전자가 분석되었다. 대립유전자의 수의 분포는 2∼15개를 나타내었고, 마커당 평균 대립유전자의 수는 6.8개로 분석되었다. PIC 값은 0.248∼0.888의 범위에 속하였으며 평균값은 0.671로 나타났다. 115개의 대립유전자를 Jaccard 방법에 의해 유사도를 산출하고 비가중 산술방식에 의해 집괴 분석한 결과 공시품종의 유전적 거리는 0.31∼0.81의 범위로 나타났고 계통도는 유사도 지수 0.40을 기준으로 할 때 종에 따라 3개의 그룹으로 구분되었다. 17개 SSR 마커에 의해 34품종이 모두 식별되었고, 34품종을 식별할 수 있는 3개의 최소마커 조합을 선정하였다. 본 결과는 블루베리 품종식별과 신품종 보호 심사를 위한 유전자 분석 자료로 유용하게 활용될 것으로 사료된다.

In Korea, chilli pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is a major vegetable crop. The pepper seed market is about $35 million and the whole sale market including processed products is equivalent to $2 billion, representing the second highest market value among crops, next to rice in Korea. Since the development of elite pepper variety is so competitive, vegetable seed companies usually run two important programs to keep the credibility of seed quality. One program is to deliver F1 hybrid seeds with a high purity test to farmers. The purity control of parents and F1 hybrid to avoid any contamination is conducted by DNA markers because pepper seeds are obtained using MS line. The other program is to identify the F1 variety from other varieties by analyzing the polymorphism so that the company and/or breeder protects the intellectual property from copying by others or from non-intentional contamination. We have developed about 900 EST-SSR sets from pepper and used to both programs. A total of 66 markers were selected to identify 32 F1 varieties and their own parents. Using these markers, the purity control of F1 hybrid rose up to the highest degree. We also found several SSR markers to distinguish F1 variety from other varieties and these markers could be useful to find the uniqueness of F1 cultivar.