Noel Ellishttp://www.aber.ac.uk/en/ibers/staff/staff-list/noel_ellis/

Legume Genetics and Sport & Exercise ScienceWhat’s the connection?

Food legumes: peas, beans, lentils, ...

ProteinCarbohydrateOilFibreMinerals

high for plant derived foodvariablevariablegenerally quite highvarious e.g. Se

What’s the connection?

The Olympic Games (of course)

OlympiaPisa

The inhabitants of Pisa founded the Olympic games in 776 BC &organised them until 572 BC.

Pisum derives from Pisawhere archaeological remains show that peas were cultivated by the ancient GreeksSherwood (1898) Garden Peas

J.RHS 22: 239-260

Food legumes are diverse, with useful nutritional properties

Food composition can be controlled genetically

This means we can define the genetics of nutritional properties and use this to create or identify functional foods.

Three things I am going to say

ΔP

lasm

a gl

ucos

e m

mol

/l

0

6

4

2

-2

-4 0 1 2 3 4 hrs

mung bean starch

maize starch

glucose

not all starches are the same

Glycaemic index: staying power

Modified from Rizkalla et al. (2002) Brit. J. Nutr. 88 S255-S262

The glycaemic potency of breakfast and cognitive function in school children.Micha et al. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 64: 948-57. Nutritional Sciences Research Division, King's College London

Starch synthesis: genetic variation

WT SBE1 ADPG PGMP SUS2 GBSSII SSI

all of these wrinkled seed mutants are defective in an enzyme involved in starch synthesis.

Hedley et al (2002) Starch/Stärke 54 235–242

WT r rb rug3 rug4 rug5 lam

Starch: genetic variationconsequence for fibre

progeny of the cross: JI281 x JI399

Rb

rb

Domoney & Charlton pers. comm.

Sucrose

Raf

finos

e

sucrose

raffinose

stachyoseetc.

- flatus

+ prebiotic claimed control of Clostridium, Salmonella& colon tumors (in rats)

Guillon & Champ (2002) Brit. J. Nutr. 88 S293-S306

Raffino-oligosaccharides: RFOsα-galactosides

Starch: genetic variationit is not only starch that has changedso has the protein profile.

70kD

50kD

40kD

20kD

rrbr/rb

R/R

b

Vicilin

Legumin

VicilinLegumin

Casey et al. (2001) Nahrung/Food 45 385-387

20

40

rrb

r/rb

R/R

brrb

r/rb

R/R

b

mg/g

Segregation of NMR peak intensity

20 RILs from JI281 x JI399

Metabolite profilingGenetic mapping of determinants of NMR spectral differences

Charlton, Domoney et al pers. comm.

NMR peak index (7.92 – 8.03 ppm)

QDiPS

PCGINPulse Crop Genetic Improvement Network

Thanks to:Julie HoferClaire DomoneyAdrian Charlton

Two views

http://www.21food.com/

‘Peas have great diversity’George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier