Molecular characterization and marker development of a novel soft wheat high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit 1Dy121 for improving cookie-baking quality

Authors: MA, FENGYUN - The Ohio State University; Lee, Min Woo; Baik, Byung-Kee; Penning, Bryan

Submitted to: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/19/2026
Publication Date: 7/12/2026
Citation: Ma, F., Lee, M., Baik, B.V., Penning, B. 2026. Molecular characterization and marker development of a novel soft wheat high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit 1Dy121 for improving cookie-baking quality. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Article 70860. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.70860.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.70860

Interpretive Summary: Soft red winter wheat grown in the Eastern United States (US) is valued at ~$2.7 billion per year. Soft red winter wheat grain is milled into flour in the US for use in baked goods or exported, profiting US wheat farmers, bakers, and millers. Eastern US soft red winter wheat is primarily used for cookies, cakes, and other baked goods requiring flour with low protein content and strength characteristics. Wheat varieties carry three to five types of protein molecules called high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) in their grain. HMW-GSs are the primary determinants of flour protein characteristics. Thus, HMW-GSs are an effective screening tool for appropriate protein characteristics during development of wheat varieties. Genetic markers are available for most HMW-GSs, but not for the 1Dy121 unit, which is associated with low protein content and strength desirable for making cookies and cakes. The article describes development of a marker to identify this important HMW-GS 1Dy121 unit which naturally occurs in a small proportion of Eastern US soft red winter wheat varieties. The marker correctly distinguished 1Dy121 from other HMW-GSs with 98% accuracy. The new marker for 1Dy121 will allow wheat breeders to effectively and efficiently select wheat varieties that are low in protein content and weak in protein strength and thus have improved cookie and cake baking quality. The ability to bake better quality cookies and cakes can improve market value of US produced soft winter wheat to the benefit of US wheat farmers, commercial millers, and bakers.

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND: High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) are the major determinants of gluten strength and dough elasticity as well as wheat end use quality. A novel HMW-GS 1Dy121 in soft wheat is associated with low protein content, weak gluten, and superior cookie-baking quality but lacks a simple and effective genetic marker to distinguish it from other 1Dy alleles. RESULTS: The subunit 1Dy121 allele was cloned for the first time from eastern U.S. soft winter wheat. Molecular characterization of the 1Dy121 subunit showed a coding nucleotide sequence of 2022 bp, 39 bp longer than the 1Dy12 subunit. The 1Dy121 subunit spanned 673 amino acid residues with a similar molecular structure to other published y-type subunits at the Glu-D1 locus. Known y-type subunits at the Glu-D1 locus have seven cysteine residues at conserved positions in the repetitive domain. Subunit 1Dy121 had an extra cysteine residue in the repetitive domain due to an adenine to guanine transition. A kompetitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) marker for identifying the 1Dy121 allele was developed and validated using 32 eastern soft winter wheat varieties with either the 1Dy12 or 1Dy121 allele. The new KASP marker effectively distinguished varieties with subunit 1Dy121 from subunit 1Dy12. The marker also distinguished 9 varieties with subunit 1Dy10 better suited to bread baking at the Glu-D locus from subunit 1Dy121 varieties. CONCLUSION: The new KASP marker is an effective tool to efficiently identify soft wheat varieties or breeding lines carrying HMW-GS 1Dy121 for superior cookie-baking quality.