| Comments |
Increasing the amount of amylose and resistant starch in wheat by by mutating STARCH BRANCHING ENZYME II (SBEII) genes has potential to provide human health benefits. Ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) mutations in the linked SBEIIa and SBEIIb paralogs were combined on chromosomes 2A (PI-670159),2B (PI 670161) and on both chromosomes (PI 670160) in the tetraploid wheat (TR.DR) variety Kronos (PI-576168)using natural recombination. To phenotypically characterize the mutant lines, they were grown in two field experiments and compared to wild-type sib control lines. The SBEIIa/b-AB line (PI-670160) with four mutations showed dramatic increases in amylose (average 66%) and resistant starch (average 753%) relative to the control. However, the SBEIIa/b-AB line (PI 670160) also showed an average 7% decrease in total starch and an 8% decrease in kernel weight. No significant differences were detected for the SBEIIa|b-A (PI 670159) and SBEIIa|b-B (PI 67017) lines when compared to the wild-type sib control[2965].
|
