Improving wheat to remove coeliac epitopes but retain functionality.

ABSTRACT: Coeliac disease is an intolerance triggered by the ingestion of wheat gluten proteins. It is of increasing concern to consumers and health professionals as its incidence appears to be increasing. The amino acid sequences in gluten proteins that are responsible for triggering responses in sensitive individuals have been identified showing that they vary in distribution among and between different groups of gluten proteins. Conventional breeding may therefore be used to select for gluten protein fractions with lower contents of coeliac epitopes. Molecular breeding approaches can also be used to specifically down-regulate coeliac-toxic proteins or mutate coeliac epitopes within individual proteins. A combination of these approaches may therefore be used to develop a "coeliac-safe" wheat. Howe

SUBMITTER: Shewry PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4767027 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature