[Progress in the research and application of wheat grain protein]

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the main staple food crops in China. The protein quality of wheat grains directly determines the processing quality and nutritional quality of flour foods. With the growth of the population, the upgrading of the dietary structure, and the transformation of the demand in the food industry, the research on wheat in China has shifted from simply pursuing high yields to a new stage of coordinated improvement of yield, quality, and nutrition. This article systematically reviews the main progress in the research on the quality of wheat grain protein, including the identification of gluten proteins and high-quality subunits, the analysis of the expression regulation of gluten protein genes, the mining of quality-related genes based on multi-omics, the impact of the interaction between proteins and other components on processing characteristics, and the application of biotechnology in the breeding of high-quality wheat. In view of the complex evaluation process and environmental susceptibility of wheat quality traits, as well as the goal of achieving synergistic optimization of nutrition and functionality in protein quality research under the National Whole Grain Action Plan, we examine the challenges and future development prospects of cutting-edge technologies such as marker-assisted selection and gene editing. This review aims to provide theoretical support for the upgrading of the high-quality wheat industry.