Modern aspects of wheat grain proteins

Abstract

The unique baking properties of wheat have contributed to the large variety of food products made of wheat. Wheat products are immensely popular, which is reflected in their ubiquitous consumption. Concerning wheat quality, a main challenge for intense growing strategies is to adapt wheat plants of unaltered yield and baking quality to decreased nitrogen input, which will limit unwanted nitrogen leaching into drinking water and safe resources. A probably more important challenge for wheat adaptation will be caused by global climate change. For a relative small percentage of the human population wheat grain proteins can cause a number of serious diseases including coeliac disease. Susceptible persons often have to completely avoid wheat, as well as rye and barley products. Methods for detection of gluten protein are well advanced, increasing safety for patients. Wheat breeding using traditional breeding and modern genome editing approaches are seen to be necessary to develop new wheat cultivars for adaptation to new environmental conditions caused by climate change, reduced nitrogen input and increased production efficiency, as well as reduction of disease potential. Wheat grain protein analytical methods are important, e.g. for determination of quality parameters and for decision making in breeding programmes. Aspects of protein extraction, proteomic analysis and database coverage of wheat protein sequences are discussed.