The effect of nitrogen fertilization on the expression of protein in wheat and tritordeum varieties using a proteomic approach

Wheat, an essential ingredient for several bakery preparations, is also responsible for gluten-related diseases in sensitive subjects. The effect of the N fertilization rate (80 vs 160 kg N ha−1) on gluten protein expression profile has been evaluated considering two soft wheats (landrace and modern) and one tritordeum cultivar (cv), grown in the same experimental field in North Italy. The proteins of refined flour were characterized through advanced proteomic approaches, including chromatography (RP-HPLC) and electrophoresis. A static model system was used to simulate in vitro digestion and the digestome peptides were examined by mass spectrometry and in silico approaches, to investigate the celiac and allergenic sequences. The CD-toxic epitopes in the digested samples were quantified by means of a R5 ELISA assay. The N fertilization rate increased the grain protein content, but it did not lead to any difference in gluten composition, with exception of glu/glia ratio in the modern wheat cv. Moreover, the gluten composition and the occurrence of toxic/allergenic epitopes varied to a great extent, according mostly to the genotype. A lower immunoreactivity, determined using R5 ELISA, was detected for the digested tritordeum flours than for the landrace (-51%) or modern (-58%) cvs, while no significant difference was observed for the N rates between each genotype. In silico analysis showed that tritordeum has fewer CD epitopes belonging to the ω-gliadins and a lower LMW-GS than the landrace or modern cv. Tritordeum presented fewer α-gliadin allergenic epitopes than the modern wheat cv. The lower frequency of celiac epitopes in tritordeum, compared to the old and the modern wheat, is probably due to the absence of a D genome.