Eugene Metakovsky

Invited researcher at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Professional career (CV): I was graduated on 1972 from the Moscow State University with honours. PhD was obtained (1977) in the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Moscow. Since 1981, I study wheat grain storage proteins. As an invited specialist, I worked, in different labs in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Serbia. Slovenia, Spain, UK and Ukraine. More than 100 articles were published in cooperation with scientists from Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, UK, USA, Ukraine and several other post-USSR States. Recently I have summarized most of my work in the book Intimate Facts about Wheat Grain Storage Proteins, Gliadins and Glutenins (www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-8837-0).

Abstract

The use of multiple allelism documented for each of Gli loci encoding the grain storage protein, gliadin, makes it possible, theoretically, to distinguish between about 109 of common wheat homozygous genotypes differing among them at least at one Gli locus. World-wide analysis of gliadin polymorphism has provided evidence that, in wheat, genetic diversity is high and structured spatially across countries and their regions. The analysis of gliadin genotypes in a given grain sample can provide a reliable information about the origin of grains in this sample. An unexpected finding is that many registered common wheat cultivars are genetically non-uniform and composed of authentic biotypes (genotypically related lines originated from the initial cross) in spite of current crop-registration rules that include a strict demand for each new cultivar to be genetically uniform. In summary, the results suggest that each cultivar is the fruit of joint effects of a breeder and of a region's environmental factors.