Characterization of the membrane domain subunit NuoK (ND4L) of the NADH-quinone oxidoreductase from Escherichia coli

The ND4L subunit is the smallest mitochondrial DNA-encoded subunit of the proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I). In an attempt to study the functional and structural roles of the NuoK subunit (the Escherichia coli homologue of ND4L) of the bacterial NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (NDH-1), we have performed a series of site-specific mutations on the nuoK gene of the NDH-1 operon by using the homologous recombination technique. The amino acid residues we targeted included two highly conserved glutamic acids that are presumably located in the middle of the membrane and several arginine residues that are predicted to be on the cytosolic side. All point mutants examined had fully assembled NDH-1 as detected by blue-native gel electrophoresis and immunostaining. Mutations of nearly perfectly conserved Glu-36 lead to almost null activities of coupled electron transfer with a concomitant loss of generation of electrochemical gradient. A significant diminution of the coupled activities was also observed with mutations of another highly conserved residue, Glu-72. These results may suggest that both membrane-embedded acidic residues are important for the coupling mechanism of NDH-1. Furthermore, a severe impairment of the coupled activities occurred when two vicinal arginine residues on a cytosolic loop were simultaneously mutated. Possible roles of these arginine residues and other conserved residues in the NuoK subunit for NDH-1 function were discussed.     

The Glu-84 of the ParC subunit plays critical roles in both topoisomerase IV-quinolone and topoisomerase IV-DNA interactions

DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV (Topo IV) are cellular targets of quinolone antibacterial drugs. The Ser-80 and the Glu-84 of the ParC subunit have been identified as mutational hotspots for quinolone resistance. Mutant Topo IV proteins containing a quinolone resistance-conferring mutation have been constructed, and the effects of these mutations on Topo IV are assessed. Both S80L and E84K mutations abolish the ability of quinolones to trap covalent Topo IV-DNA complexes, demonstrating that both the Ser-80 and the Glu-84 of ParC are essential for Topo IV-quinolone interaction. In addition, the E84K mutation greatly reduces the catalytic activity of Topo IV. Covalent Topo IV-DNA complexes formed with Topo IV containing the E84K mutation are more stable than those formed with the wild-type protein. Interestingly, the E84P mutation confers quinolone resistance to Topo IV without affecting its catalytic activity. The E84P mutation inhibits the formation of covalent Topo IV-DNA complexes when Mg(2+), but not Ca(2+), is used as a cofactor. These results show that the Glu-84 plays an important role in Topo IV-DNA interaction. Thus, the Glu-84 of ParC is critical for the interactions of Topo IV with both the quinolone drug and the DNA in topoisomerase-quinolone-DNA ternary complexes.     

Identification of amino acids in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist binding site and ion channel photolabeled by 4-[(3-trifluoromethyl)-3H-diazirin-3-yl]benzoylcholine,a novel photoaffinity antagonist

[(3)H]4-[(3-trifluoromethyl)-3H-diazirin-3-yl]benzoylcholine (TDBzcholine) was synthesized and used as a photoaffinity probe to map the orientation of an aromatic choline ester within the agonist binding sites of the Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). TDBzcholine acts as a nAChR competitive antagonist that binds at equilibrium with equal affinity to both agonist sites (K(D) approximately 10 microM). Upon UV irradiation (350 nm), nAChR-rich membranes equilibrated with [(3)H]TDBzcholine incorporate (3)H into the alpha, gamma, and delta subunits in an agonist-inhibitable manner. The specific residues labeled by [(3)H]TDBzcholine were determined by N-terminal sequence analysis of subunit fragments produced by enzymatic cleavage and purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and/or reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. For the alpha subunit, [(3)H]TDBzcholine photoincorporated into alphaCys-192, alphaCys-193, and alphaPro-194. For the gamma and delta subunits, [(3)H]TDBzcholine incorporated into homologous leucine residues, gammaLeu-109 and deltaLeu-111. The photolabeling of these amino acids suggests that when the antagonist TDBzcholine occupies the agonist binding sites, the Cys-192-193 disulfide and Pro-194 from the alpha subunit Segment C are oriented toward the agonist site and are in proximity to gammaLeu-109/deltaLeu-111 in Segment E, a conclusion consistent with the structure of the binding site in the molluscan acetylcholine binding protein, a soluble protein that is homologous to the nAChR extracellular domain.     

Pivotal roles of three conserved carboxyl residues of the NuoC (30k) segment in the structural integrity of proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase from Escherichia coli

The prokaryotic proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (NDH-1) is an L-shaped membrane-bound enzyme that contains 14 subunits (NuoA-NuoN or Nqo1-Nqo14). All subunits have their counterparts in the eukaryotic enzyme (complex I). NDH-1 consists of two domains: the peripheral arm (NuoB, -C, -D, -E, -F, -G, and -I) and the membrane arm (NuoA, -H, -J, -K, -L, -M, and -N). In Escherichia coli NDH-1, the hydrophilic subunits NuoC/Nqo5/30k and NuoD/Nqo4/49k are fused together in a single polypeptide as the NuoCD subunit. The NuoCD subunit is the only subunit that does not bear a cofactor in the peripheral arm. While some roles for inhibitor and quinone association have been reported for the NuoD segment, structural and functional roles of the NuoC segment remain mostly elusive. In this work, 14 highly conserved residues of the NuoC segment were mutated and 21 mutants were constructed using the chromosomal gene manipulation technique. From the enzymatic assays and immunochemical and blue-native gel analyses, it was found that residues Glu-138, Glu-140, and Asp-143 that are thought to be in the third α-helix are absolutely required for the energy-transducing NDH-1 activities and the assembly of the whole enzyme. Together with available information for the hydrophobic subunits, we propose that Glu-138, Glu-140, and Asp-143 of the NuoC segment may have a pivotal role in the structural stability of NDH-1.     

小麦高分子量谷蛋白亚基Glu-B1位点沉默基因的克隆与序列分析

二粒小麦（Triticum turgidum L．var．dicoccoides）具有极其丰富的遗传多样性,是栽培小麦品种改良的巨大基因库。在高分子量谷蛋白基因的组成上,它具有许多栽培小麦不存在的变异类型,在Glu—B1位点上的变异更大。我们利用种子贮藏蛋白的SDS—PAGE方法从原产于伊朗的二粒小麦材料PI94640中观察到缺失Glu—B1区的高分子量谷蛋白亚基。利用Glu-1Bx基因保守序列设计PCR引物,对该材料的总DNA扩增,获得了X型亚基编码基因（Glu-1Bxm）的全序列,其全长为3442bp含1070bp的启动子区。序列比较发现,Glu-1Bxm在启动子区序列与Glu—1Bx7的最为相似。而在基因编码区,我们发现Glu—1Bxm仅编码212个氨基酸,由于开放阅读框中起始密码子后第637位核苷酸发生了点突变,即编码谷酰胺的CAA突变为终止密码TAA,可能直接导致了该高分子量谷蛋白亚基的失活,这是我们在小麦Glu—B1位点基因沉默分子证据的首次报道。将Glu—1Bxm全序列与Glu—B1位点其他等位基因进行了系统树分析,发现Glu—1Bxm是较为古老的类型。本文还对该特异高分子量谷蛋白亚基变异类型对品质遗传改良研究的意义进行了讨论。     

Primary structure and evolution of calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP)

The amino acid sequences of two subunits (80K and 30K) of calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP) were examined to clarify the structure-function relationship of CANP. The 80K subunit is composed of four clear domains (I–IV from the N-terminus). Domain II is a cysteine proteinase domain homologous to cathepsins B, L, and H. Domain IV is a calcium binding domain with four consecutive EF-hand structures known as typical calcium-binding sites found in calmodulin. The 30K subunit also has a clear domain structure (two domains). The N-terminal domain, a Gly-rich hydrophobic domain, probably determines the location of CANP through association with cellular membrane. The C-terminal domain is a calmodulinlike calcium-binding domain highly homologous to IV in the 80K subunit. The protease activity ascribable to II is regulated by 2 moles of built-in calmodulins, though its precise regulation mechanism is unknown. These results are discussed together with the molecular evolution of CANP on the basis of the gene structures of the two subunits.This article was presented during the proceedings of the International Conference on Macromolecular Structure and Function, held at the National Defence Medical College, Tokorozawa, Japan, December 1985.     

Subunit interface selectivity of the alpha-neurotoxins for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Peptide toxins selective for particular subunit interfaces of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor have proven invaluable in assigning candidate residues located in the two binding sites and for determining probable orientations of the bound peptide. We report here on a short alpha-neurotoxin from Naja mossambica mossambica (NmmI) that, similar to other alpha-neurotoxins, binds with high affinity to alphagamma and alphadelta subunit interfaces (KD approximately 100 pM) but binds with markedly reduced affinity to the alphaepsilon interface (KD approximately 100 nM). By constructing chimeras composed of portions of the gamma and epsilon subunits and coexpressing them with wild type alpha, beta, and delta subunits in HEK 293 cells, we identify a region of the subunit sequence responsible for the difference in affinity. Within this region, gammaPro-175 and gammaGlu-176 confer high affinity, whereas Thr and Ala, found at homologous positions in epsilon, confer low affinity. To identify an interaction between gammaGlu-176 and residues in NmmI, we have examined cationic residues in the central loop of the toxin and measured binding of mutant toxin-receptor combinations. The data show strong pairwise interactions or coupling between gammaGlu-176 and Lys-27 of NmmI and progressively weaker interactions with Arg-33 and Arg-36 in loop II of this three-loop toxin. Thus, loop II of NmmI, and in particular the face of this loop closest to loop III, appears to come into close apposition with Glu-176 of the gamma subunit surface of the binding site interface.     

The genes responsible for O-antigen synthesis of vibrio cholerae O139 are closely related to those of vibrio cholerae O22.

Several studies have shown that the emergence of the O139 serogroup of Vibrio cholerae is a result of horizontal gene transfer of a fragment of DNA from a serogroup other than O1 into the region responsible for O-antigen biosynthesis of the seventh pandemic V. cholerae O1 biotype El Tor strain. In this study, we show that the gene cluster responsible for O-antigen biosynthesis of the O139 serogroup of V. cholerae is closely related to those of O22. When DNA fragments derived from O139 O-antigen biosynthesis gene region were used as probes, the entire O139 O-antigen biosynthesis gene region could be divided into five classes, designated as I-V based on the reactivity pattern of the probes against reference strains of V. cholerae representing serogroups O1-O193. Class IV was specific to O139 serogroup, while classes I-III and class V were homologous to varying extents to some of the non-O1, non-O139 serogroups. Interestingly, the regions other than class IV were also conserved in the O22 serogroup. Long and accurate PCR was employed to determine if a simple deletion or substitution was involved to account for the difference in class IV between O139 and O22. A product of approx. 15kb was amplified when O139 DNA was used as the template, while a product of approx. 12.5kb was amplified when O22 DNA was used as the template, indicating that substitution but not deletion could account for the difference in the region between O22 and O139 serogroups. In order to precisely compare between the genes responsible for O-antigen biosynthesis of O139 and O22, the region responsible for O-antigen biosynthesis of O22 serogroup was cloned and analyzed. In concurrence with the results of the hybridization test, all regions were well conserved in O22 and O139 serogroups, although wbfA and the five or six genes comprising class IV in O22 and O139 serogroups, respectively, were exceptions. Again the genes in class IV in O22 were confirmed to be specific to O22 among the 155 'O' serogroups of V. cholerae. These data suggest that the gene clusters responsible for O139 O-antigen biosynthesis are most similar to those of O22 and genes within class IV of O139, and O22 defines the unique O antigen of O139 or O22.     

Site-directed mutagenesis of conserved residues of Clostridium thermocellum endoglucanase CelC.

Four conserved residues of Clostridium thermocellum endoglucanase CelC were replaced by site-directed mutagenesis. Proteins mutated in His-90, Asn-139 and Glu-140 showed strongly reduced activity, in agreement with predictions of sequence alignments. Mutations in Glu-140 did not result in any detectable change in Km, or apparent size, suggesting that Glu-140 is directly involved in catalysis. The pH optimum of the proteins carrying the Glu-140/Ala and Glu140/Gln mutations was lower than that of the wild type, whereas the activity vs. pH profile of Glu-140/Asp CelC was similar to that of the wild type, suggesting that Glu-140 may act as a proton donor.     

Roles of Subunit NuoK (ND4L) in the Energy-transducing Mechanism of Escherichia coli NDH-1 (NADH:Quinone Oxidoreductase)

The bacterial H⁺-translocating NADH:quinone oxidoreductase (NDH-1) catalyzes electron transfer from NADH to quinone coupled with proton pumping across the cytoplasmic membrane. The NuoK subunit (counterpart of the mitochondrial ND4L subunit) is one of the seven hydrophobic subunits in the membrane domain and bears three transmembrane segments (TM1–3). Two glutamic residues located in the adjacent transmembrane helices of NuoK are important for the energy coupled activity of NDH-1. In particular, mutation of the highly conserved carboxyl residue (_KGlu-36 in TM2) to Ala led to a complete loss of the NDH-1 activities. Mutation of the second conserved carboxyl residue (_KGlu-72 in TM3) moderately reduced the activities. To clarify the contribution of NuoK to the mechanism of proton translocation, we relocated these two conserved residues. When we shifted _KGlu-36 along TM2 to positions 32, 38, 39, and 40, the mutants largely retained energy transducing NDH-1 activities. According to the recent structural information, these positions are located in the vicinity of _KGlu-36, present in the same helix phase, in an immediately before and after helix turn. In an earlier study, a double mutation of two arginine residues located in a short cytoplasmic loop between TM1 and TM2 (loop-1) showed a drastic effect on energy transducing activities. Therefore, the importance of this cytosolic loop of NuoK (_KArg-25, _KArg-26, and _KAsn-27) for the energy transducing activities was extensively studied. The probable roles of subunit NuoK in the energy transducing mechanism of NDH-1 are discussed.     

In vitro mutated beta subunits from the F1-ATPase of the thermophilic bacterium, PS3, containing glutamine in place of glutamic acid in positions 190 or 201 assembles with the alpha and gamma subunits to produce inactive complexes

Using site-directed mutagenesis, Glu-190 or Glu-201 of the beta subunit of the F1-ATPase from the thermophilic bacterium PS3 were replaced with glutamine. It was possible to reconstitute complexes of the mutated beta subunits with alpha and gamma subunits, but the complexes did not have ATPase activity. It is concluded that carboxylic acid side chains of Glu-190 and Glu-201 of the beta subunit are essential for catalytic activity of F1-ATPase.     

Access to the carbamate tunnel of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase

The X-ray crystal structure of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) from Escherichia coli revealed the existence of a molecular tunnel that has been proposed to facilitate the translocation of reaction intermediates between remotely located active sites. Five highly conserved glutamate residues, including Glu-25, Glu-383, Glu-577, Glu-604, and Glu-916, are close together in two clusters in the interior wall of the molecular tunnel that enables the intermediate carbamate to migrate from the site of synthesis to the site of utilization. Two arginines, Arg-306 and Arg-848, are located at either end of the carbamate tunnel and participate in the binding of ATP at each of the two active sites within the large subunit of CPS. The mutation of Glu-25 or Glu-577 results in a diminution in the overall rate of carbamoyl phosphate formation. Similar effects are observed upon mutation of Arg-306 and Arg-848 to alanine residues. The conserved glutamate and arginine residues may function in concert with one another to control entry of carbamate into the tunnel prior to phosphorylation to carbamoyl phosphate. The electrostatic environment of tunnel interior may help to stabilize the tunnel architecture and prevent decomposition of carbamate through protonation.     

Escherichia coli H(+)-ATPase: role of the delta subunit in binding Fl to the Fo sector.

The roles of the Escherichia coli H(+)-ATPase (FoFl) delta subunit (177 amino acid residues) was studied by analyzing mutants. The membranes of nonsense (Gln-23----end, Gln-29----end, Gln-74----end) and missense (Gly-150----Asp) mutants had very low ATPase activities, indicating that the delta subunit is essential for the binding of the Fl portion to Fo. The Gln-176----end mutant had essentially the same membrane-bound activity as the wild type, whereas in the Val-174----end mutant most of the ATPase activity was in the cytoplasm. Thus Val-174 (and possibly Leu-175 also) was essential for maintaining the structure of the subunit, whereas the two carboxyl terminal residues Gln-176 and Ser-177 were dispensable. Substitutions were introduced at various residues (Thr-11, Glu-26, Asp-30, Glu-42, Glu-82, Arg-85, Asp-144, Arg-154, Asp-161, Ser-163), including apparently conserved hydrophilic ones. The resulting mutants had essentially the same phenotypes as the wild type, indicating that these residues do not have any significant functional role(s). Analysis of mutations (Gly-150----Asp, Pro, or Ala) indicated that Gly-150 itself was not essential, but that the mutations might affect the structure of the subunit. These results suggest that the overall structure of the delta subunit is necessary, but that individual residues may not have strict functional roles.     

Common molecular determinants of tarantula huwentoxin-IV inhibition of Na+ channel voltage sensors in domains II and IV

The voltage sensors of domains II and IV of sodium channels are important determinants of activation and inactivation, respectively. Animal toxins that alter electrophysiological excitability of muscles and neurons often modify sodium channel activation by selectively interacting with domain II and inactivation by selectively interacting with domain IV. This suggests that there may be substantial differences between the toxin-binding sites in these two important domains. Here we explore the ability of the tarantula huwentoxin-IV (HWTX-IV) to inhibit the activity of the domain II and IV voltage sensors. HWTX-IV is specific for domain II, and we identify five residues in the S1-S2 (Glu-753) and S3-S4 (Glu-811, Leu-814, Asp-816, and Glu-818) regions of domain II that are crucial for inhibition of activation by HWTX-IV. These data indicate that a single residue in the S3-S4 linker (Glu-818 in hNav1.7) is crucial for allowing HWTX-IV to interact with the other key residues and trap the voltage sensor in the closed configuration. Mutagenesis analysis indicates that the five corresponding residues in domain IV are all critical for endowing HWTX-IV with the ability to inhibit fast inactivation. Our data suggest that the toxin-binding motif in domain II is conserved in domain IV. Increasing our understanding of the molecular determinants of toxin interactions with voltage-gated sodium channels may permit development of enhanced isoform-specific voltage-gating modifiers.     

Molecular Characterization of a HMW Glutenin Subunit Allele Providing Evidence for Silencing of x-type Gene on Glu-B1

Understanding the molecular structure of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) may provide useful evidence for the study on the improvement of quality of cultivated wheat and the evolution of Glu-1 alleles. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) shows that the subunits encoded by Glu-B1 were null, named 1Bxm, in a Triticum turgidum var. dicoccoides line PI94640. Primers based on the conserved regions in wheat HMW-GS gene promoter and coding sequences were used to amplify the genomic DNA of line PI94640. The PCR products were sequenced, and the total nucleotide sequence of 3 442 bp including upstream sequence of 1 070 bp was obtained. Compared with the reported gene sequences of Glu-1Bx alleles, the promoter region of the Glu-1Bxm showed close resemblance to 1Bx7. The Glu-1Bxm coding region differs from the other Glu-1Bx alleles for a deduced mature protein with only 212 residues, and a stop codon (TAA) at 637 bp downstream from the start codon was present, which was probably responsible for the silencing of x-type subunit genes at the Glu-B1 locus. Phylogenetic tree based on the nucleotide sequence alignment of HMW glutenin subunit genes showed that 1Bxm was the most ancient type of Glu-B1 alleles, suggesting that the evolution rates are different among Glu-1Bx genes. Further study on the contribution of the unique silenced Glu-B1 alleles to quality improvement was also discussed.     

Quaternary structure of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus main protease

SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) has been one of the most severe viral infectious diseases last year and still remains as a highly risky public health problem around the world. Exploring the types of interactions responsible for structural stabilities of its component protein molecules constitutes one of the approaches to find a destabilization method for the virion particle. In this study, we performed a series of experiments to characterize the quaternary structure of the dimeric coronavirus main protease (M(pro), 3CL(pro)). By using the analytical ultracentrifuge, we demonstrated that the dimeric SARS coronavirus main protease exists as the major form in solution at protein concentration as low as 0.10 mg/mL at neutral pH. The enzyme started to dissociate at acidic and alkali pH values. Ionic strength has profound effect on the dimer stability indicating that the major force involved in the subunit association is ionic interactions. The effect of ionic strength on the protease molecule was reflected by the drastic change of electrostatic potential contour of the enzyme in the presence of NaCl. Analysis of the crystal structures indicated that the interfacial ionic interaction was attributed to the Arg-4...Glu-290 ion pair between the subunits. Detailed examination of the dimer-monomer equilibrium at different pH values reveals apparent pK(a) values of 8.0 +/- 0.2 and 5.0 +/- 0.1 for the Arg-4 and Glu-290, respectively. Mutation at these two positions reduces the association affinity between subunits, and the Glu-290 mutants had diminished enzyme activity. This information is useful in searching for substances that can intervene in the subunit association, which is attractive as a target to neutralize the virulence of SARS coronavirus.     

Rapid determination of parvalbumin amino acid sequence from Rana catesbeiana (pI 4.78) by combination of ESI mass spectrometry, protein sequencing, and amino acid analysis

The complete amino acid sequence of beta-type parvalbumin (PA) from bullfrog Rana catesbeiana (pI 4.78) was determined by tandem mass spectrometry in combination with amino acid analysis and peptide sequencing following Arg-C and V(8) protease digestion. The primary structure of the protein was compared with that of beta-type PA from R. esculenta (pI 4.50), with which it is highly homologous. Compared with R. esculenta beta-type PA4.50, R. catesbeiana beta-type parvalbumin (PA 4.78) differed in 15 out of 108 amino acid residues (14% displacement), PA4.78 had Cys at residue 64 and was acetylated at the amino terminus, but 25 residues of the carboxyl terminus were completely conserved. Several amino acid displacements were found between residues 51 and 80 (30% displacement), although the functionally important sequence of PA was completely conserved. The amino acids residues of putative calcium-binding sites were Asp-51, Asp-53, Ser-55, Phe-57, Glu-59, Glu-62, Asp-90, Asp-92, Asp-94, Lys-96, and Glu-101, which were conserved in all a and b-types of R. catesbeiana as well as other parvalbumins. In addition, Arg-75 and Glu-81, which are thought to form a salt bridge located in the interior of the molecule [Coffee, C.J. et al. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 453, 67-80], were also conserved in PA4.78.     

Identification of glutamate residues important for catalytic activity of Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase II

Each of four conserved glutamate residues of Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase II (BsLAPII) was replaced with aspartate, lysine, and leucine respectively by site-directed mutagenesis. The over-expressed wild-type and mutant enzymes were purified to homogeneity by nickel-chelate chromatography and the molecular mass of the subunit was determined to be 44.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The specific activity for the Glu-316 and Glu-340 mutants was completely abolished, while Glu-249 mutants showed comparable activity to that of the wild-type BsLAPII. Compared with the wild-type enzyme, the E250D and E250L mutant enzymes retained less than 18% of the enzyme activity and exhibited a dramatic decrease in the value of k _cat/K _m. These observations indicate that Glu-250, Glu-316, and Glu-340 residues are critical for the catalytic activity of BsLAPII.     

Allelic variation of high molecular weight glutenin subunits of bread wheat in Hebei province of China

In common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), allelic variations of Glu-1 loci have important influences on grain end-use quality. The allelic variations in high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) were identified in 151 hexaploid wheat varieties representing a historical trend in the cultivars introduced or released in Hebei province of China from the years 1970s to 2010s. Thirteen distinct alleles were detected for Glu-1. At Glu-A1, Glu-B1 and Glu-D1, we found that the most frequent alleles were the 1 (43.0%), 7+8 (64.9%), 2+12 (74.8%) alleles, respectively, in wheat varieties. Twenty two different HMW-GS compositions were observed in wheat. Twenty-five (16.6%) genotypes possessed the combination of subunits 1, 7+8, 2+12, 25 (16.6%) genotypes had subunit composition of 2*, 7+8, 2+12; 20 (13.2%) genotypes had subunit composition of null, 7+8, 2+12. The frequency of other subunit composition was less than 10%. The Glu-1 quality score greater than or equal to 9 accounted for 20.6% of the wheat varieties. The percentage of superior subunits (1 or 2* subunit at Glu-A1 locus; 7+8, 14+15 or 17+18 at Glu-B1 locus; 5+10 or 5+12 at Glu-D1 locus) was an upward trend over the last 40 years. The more different superior alleles correlated with good bread-making quality should be introduced for their usage in wheat improvement efforts.