Effects of Post-Anthesis Drought and Waterlogging on Accumulation of High-Molecular-Weight Glutenin Subunits and Glutenin Macropolymers Content in Wheat Grain

Drought and flooding during grain filling have become major constraints to wheat quality and yield. The impacts of water deficits and waterlogging during the grain filling on contents of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) and of glutenin macropolymers (GMP) in grains of the winter wheat cultivar Yumai 34 with high grain protein content (GPC) and Yangmai 9 with low GPC were studied. At maturity, GPC was higher under drought and lower under waterlogging compared to the control, while contents of GMP and HMW-GS were reduced by the two water-stress treatments. The contents of both HMW-GS and GMP were higher in Yumai 34 than in Yangmai 9. A drought event after anthesis increased the accumulation of HMW-GS during the early grain filling stage. By contrast, waterlogging reduced the accumulation of HMW-GS during the whole grain filling phase. At maturity, the HMW-GS and GMP to protein ratios were also depressed under the two water-stress events, while the HMW-GS to GMP ratio was very close between the three treatments in Yumai 34 and much higher under the control than the drought and waterlogging treaments in Yangmai 9. It is concluded that the variation in GMP content with various water-stress treatments is attributed to the changing in accumulation of HMW-GS in the grain.