Analysis of Quality-Related Parameters in Mature Kernels of Polygalacturonase Inhibiting Protein (PGIP) Transgenic Bread Wheat Infected with Fusarium graminearum

Fusarium head blight, caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, has a detrimental effect on both productivity and qualitative properties of wheat. To evaluate its impact on wheat flour, we compared its effect on quality-related parameters between a transgenic bread wheat line expressing a bean polygalacturonase inhibiting protein (PGIP) and its control line. We have compared metabolic proteins, the amounts of gluten proteins and their relative ratios, starch content, yield, extent of pathogen contamination, and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation. These comparisons showed that Fusarium significantly decreases the amount of Starch in infected control plants, but not in infected PGIP plants. The flour of PGIP plants contained also a lower amount of pathogen biomass and DON acumulation. Conversely, both gluten and metabolic proteins, were not significantly influenced either by the transgene or by fungal infection. These results indicate that the transgenic PGIP expression reduces the level of infection, without changing significantly the wheat seed proteome and other quality-related parameters.