Wheat starch consists of amylose and amylopectin. The appropriate end-use of starch is dependent on an important property of starch, the ratio of amylose:amylopectin.
Amylose is synthesized by the waxy protein, a predominant enzyme in the endosperm, the granule-bound starch synthase (GBSSI). A great number of efforts are being made worldwide to produce the waxy wheat with amylose-free starch by
breeding programs or biotechnological approaches. Molecular genetic information for the different waxy genes of wheat will be of great benefit for such programs. This project has the objective of cloning and characterising the individual waxy genes from different diploid progenitors and various genomes of polyploid wheat. The waxy proteins encoded by the waxy genes of the different types of wheat were analysed.