A cultivar of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) with sharply large oval and purple leaf, ‘Jahokmaschima’, which has late bolting and a high yield, was developed from a cross between ‘Bulkkoch’ (dark red leaf color and early bolting) and ‘Cheongpung’ (high yield). The cross and selection for advanced lines was conducted by the pedigree method between 2005 and 2011. The advanced lines were evaluated for yield and adaptability at six locations in Korea (Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do, Gyeongnam-do, and Jeju-do) for 3 years until 2014. The ‘Jahokmaschima’ lettuce has a gray seed color, and the leaf type of the matured stage is a large oval leaf, leaf no. 67 per plant, and late bolting. In particular, the ‘Jahokmaschima’ has good resistant to tip burn in the growth period. The anthocyanin and vitamin C content of ‘Jahokmaschima’ were lower than those of ‘Tomallin’, at 4.05 mg/100g and 27.7 mg/100g, respectively. The BSL (bitter sesquiterpene lactones; latucin, 8-deoxylactucin, and lactucopicrin) content of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was lower than that of ‘Tomallin’, at 2.120 µg/g DW. Compared with ‘Tomallin’, the marketable yield of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was 1% higher (at 374 g per plant) and particularly improved late in bolting in high temperature cultivation in the field. The shelf-life of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was similar to ‘Tomallin’ at 4ºC. Furthermore, it tasted better, and was crispier and sweeter than ‘Tomallin’. Thus, we recommend that the new cultivar ‘Jahokmaschima’ is suitable for cultivation in spring and fall.

The ω5-gliadins are the major allergens in wheat-dependent excise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). In this study, SDS-PAGE analysis was used to assign the ω5-gliadins (Gli-B1) alleles in thirty two Korean wheat cultivars, compared with eleven standard wheat cultivars for Gli-B1a~m alleles. These results were reconfirmed with their complementary Glu-B3 low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits alleles tightly linked with Gli-B1 locus revealed with 2-DGE in our previous study. As a result, one Gli-B1b, four Gli-B1d, two Gli-B1f, six Gli-B1m and nineteen Gli-B1h varieties were identified. This is the first report on revealing the Gli-B1 alleles in Korean wheat cultivars and represents valuable basic data on wheat allergy, relationship between gliadin and wheat quality, and development of hypo-allergenic wheat.

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) play a crucial role in the processing quality of wheat flour. They are encoded multi gene family located at the Glu-A3, Glu-B3 and Glu-D3 on the short arm of chromosome 1A, 1B and 1D respectively. Typical LMW-GSs are composed of three parts including a short N-terminal domain, a relatively short repetitive domain and a C-terminal domain. Further, typical LMW-GS sequences are divided into LMW-s, LMW-m and LMW-i types, on the basis of the first amino acid of the mature proteins (serine, methionine and isoleucine, respectively). Although it is known that the allelic variation of LMW-GSs affect the properties of dough, it is still not clear which LMW-GSs confer better bread-making quality because of the larger number of expressed subunits and their overlapping mobility with abundant gliadin proteins. Therefore, it is important to characterize LMW-GS genes and develop functional markers to identify different LMW-GS alleles for application in wheat breeding. In this review, we discuss the various aspects of LMW-GS, including their structural characteristics, the development of marker, relationship between LMW-GSs and bread wheat quality, and genetic engineering of the LMW-GSs.