Dynamics of Genetic Variation at Gliadin-Coding Loci in Saratov Cultivars of Common Wheat Triticum aestivum L. over Eight Decades of Scientific Breeding

Based on analysis of gliadin patterns in common wheat cultivars bred at the Research Institute of Agriculture of the Southeast, allele composition dynamics in gliadin loci has been surveyed for the period of over eight decades. It was shown that long-term breeding of the wheat cultivars involved gradual replacement of alleles characteristic of ancient cultivars for those widely spread in the world, which are probably linked with alleles that currently confer advantage to their carriers. The process of reduction of interpopulation genetic diversity in wheat (with special reference to the allele frequency dynamics at gliadin loci) is discussed. This process is responsible for genetic erosion of the species.