Characterisation and Variation of Morphological Traits and Storage Proteins in Spanish Emmer Wheat Germplasm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum Dicoccon</Emphasis>)

Emmer wheat is hulled wheat that was wide cultivated in Spain at the past. Actually, the most of this germplasm is conserved in Germplasm Banks, and only two small populations have been found in Asturias (North of Spain) in a recent collecting mission. In this work, a collection of 31 Spanish emmer lines developed from identical number of accessions of two Germplasm Banks was analysed for morphological spike traits and seed storage protein composition. Up to seven different botanical varieties were detected, which suggest the presence of a wide diversity, although lower than the historically described 10 botanical varieties. At level of seed storage proteins, the lines showed a high diversity, although the new alleles were present with low frequency in materials with scarce agronomic interest for the farmers (var. atratum, var. lagascae or var. pycnurum). This last circumstance could translate in a lost of variability by genetic drift.     

Variation in gluten strength and yellow pigment in Ethiopian tetraploid wheat germplasm

Ten released varieties and one hundred and eleven tetraploid (2n = 4x = 28, AABB) wheat accessions collected from different major wheat producing regions, consisting of totally 2904 entries were characterized for content of yellow pigment, gluten strength, thousand kernel weights, grain yield, percent of yellow berry, glumes color, awn color, seed color, beak shape and spike density. The objectives were to assess variation with respect to regions of origin, species and altitudinal classes and to study the interrelationships of the qualitative traits used for the study. The accessions and/or released varieties showed significant regional variation for all the traits used in the study, but clinal variation among altitudinal classes and species were significant (P ≤ 0.01) in 6 (60%) and 9 (90%) of the studied traits, respectively. The accessions revealed consistent variation (P ≤ 0.001) within both regions and altitudinal classes for all the traits used in the study. The sedimentation volume was positively correlated with content of yellow pigment, percent of yellow berry, thousand kernel weights, glumes color, awn color, beak shape, seed color and grain yield. The contents of yellow pigment was positively correlated with awn color, beak shape and grain yield, but negatively correlated with seed color and spike density. Generally wide variation was found in the germplasm. Particularly variation was high for the content of the yellow pigment as well as the gluten strength, which provides opportunities to be utilized for genetic improvement.     

Variation and Segregation for Rachis Fragility in Spelt Wheat, Triticum Spelta L.

Spelt wheat, Triticum spelta L., has been proved to be rich-sources of useful genes for tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, and grain quality. But this crop plant has some undesirable traits including glume tenacity and brittle rachis. Free-threshing and reduced fragility of rachis are very important traits for cultivation. The objectives in the present study were to investigate genetic variation of rachis fragility in a wide range of spelt accessions, to examine its genetic segregation pattern, and to clarify if rachis fragility is associated with dosage of chromosome 5A in aneuploid lines of bread wheat. The results demonstrated that spelt germplasm contains a wide range of rachis toughness, and thus selection of spelt wheat with desirable characteristics combined with an appropriate level of tough rachis would be possible. Spike morphology in the F₂ plants was segregated into the three types, square-headed, speltoid, and compactoid. The F₂ plants with compactoid spikes had the most brittle rachis, followed by the speltoid and square-headed spike F₂ plants. Rachis fragility in bread wheat also had genetic variation and was associated with dosage of chromosome 5A.     

Phenotypic diversity of durum wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum durum</Emphasis> Desf.) from Jordan

Durum wheat landrace genotypes are disappearing from the main wheat areas in Jordan, because of spreading of new uniform cultivars and the serious reduction in wheat cultivation. This study was conducted to evaluate genetic diversity in durum wheat landraces from Jordan and to identify desirable agronomic traits. Landraces were collected from two target areas: Ajloun and Karak. The collected material was grown under rainfed conditions using an augmented design with five blocks and four repeated check cultivars. Data were collected for 14 morphological and agronomic traits. Phenotypic diversity index (H′) was estimated, and the relationships among accessions were measured using cluster analysis and dendrogram similarity matrix. The results revealed the presence of a wide range of variability among landraces., which possess high levels of variability for biological yield, fertile tillers, number of seeds per spike, seed weight per spike and weight of 1000 seeds. These landraces must be considered as a reservoir of genes that plant breeders need in their wheat improvement programs and should be conserved both ex situ and in situ.     

Agro-morphological and molecular variability in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum boeoticum</Emphasis> accessions from Zagros Mountains,Iran

Genetic erosion in cultivated wheat provides a good reason for studying genetic diversity in crop wild relatives. In the present study, genetic diversity of 32 accessions belonging to T. boeoticum species collected from different parts of Iran were evaluated using 13 morphological traits as well as ten inter-simple sequence repeat primers. Statistical analysis for morphological traits showed significant differences among accessions (except number of fertile tillers and total tillers per plant). In principal component analysis, the first three PCA showed 82.65 % of the total morphological variation. Based on the morphological traits, accessions were separated into two main groups by cluster analysis. In molecular analysis, polymerase chain reactions amplified 105 DNA fragments, out of which, 95 (90.47 %) were polymorphic. From geographic perspective, the accessions sampled from western and southwestern of Iran showed the highest and lowest polymorphism, respectively. However, the maximum values of effective number of alleles (Ne), Nei’s gene diversity (He) and Shannon’s information index (I) was related to accessions collected from NW regions. Also, according to cluster analysis and PCoA plot genetic diversity was not related to geographical distribution. Overall, our results revealed a remarkable level of genetic diversity among studied Iranian T. boeoticum accessions; especially accessions collected from Kermanshah and Lorestan provinces, which can be of interest for future breeding programs. So, conservation of germplasm of these areas is recommended.     

Grain Quality of Emmer Wheat Derived Synthetic Hexaploid Wheats

The wild diploid goat grass (Aegilops tauschii Cosson), and the cultivated tetraploid emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. dicoccon (Schrank) Thell.) may be important sources of genetic diversity for improving hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Through interspecific hybridization of emmer wheat and Ae. tauschii, followed by chromosome doubling, it is possible to produce homozygous synthetic hexaploid wheat. Fifty-eight such synthetic hexaploids were evaluated for grain quality parameters: grain weight, length, and plumpness, grain hardness, total protein content, and protein quality (SDS-Sedimentation volume, SDS-S). Most synthetics showed semi-hard to hard grain texture. Results showed significant genetic variation among the synthetic hexaploids for protein content, SDS-S values, and grain weight and plumpness. Quality measurement values of synthetic hexaploids were regressed on corresponding values of the emmer wheat parents. With this offspring-parent regression, protein content and SDS-S values explained 8.7 and 28.8%, respectively, of the variation among synthetics, indicating a significant contribution from the emmer wheat parents for these traits. The synthetic hexaploids, in general, had significantly higher protein content (15.5%, on average) and longer grains than ‘Seri M82’, the bread wheat control (13.1% protein content). Synthetics with SDS-S values and grain weights higher than those of ‘Seri M82’ were also identified. Protein content among synthetics showed significantly negative correlations with grain weight and plumpness, but no correlation with SDS-S values. Despite these negative correlations, 10 superior synthetic hexaploid wheats, derived from nine different emmer wheat parents and with above average levels of protein content, SDS-S values, and either grain weight or plumpness, were identified. This study shows that genetic variation for quality in tetraploid emmer wheat can be transferred to synthetic hexaploid wheats and combined with plump grains and high grain weight, to be used for bread wheat breeding.     

Relationships among different geographical groups,agro-morphology,fatty acid composition and RAPD marker diversity in Safflower (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carthamus tinctorius</Emphasis>)

Patterns of geographical diversity, and the relationship between agro-morphological traits and fatty acid composition were assessed for 193 safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) accessions representing forty countries. Accessions were assigned to eight groups based on geographical proximity. Cluster and Principal Component analyses were performed to assess patterns of diversity among the accessions and to select the most distant accessions from each of eight groups for analysis of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. There was a large amount of diversity for agro-morphological traits, fatty acid composition, and RAPD markers. Most correlations among different traits were rather low. Plant height showed a positive correlation with days to flowering (r = 0.63**). Palmitic acid was positively correlated with stearic acid and oleic acid values, and negatively correlated with linoleic acid (P < 0.01). Oleic acid and linoleic acid showed a strong negative correlation (r = −0.89**). The first three principal components together explained 59% of the variation, however, neither principal component analysis (PCA) nor marker analysis revealed a clear relationship between diversity pattern and geographical origin. Accessions from some geographical regions tended to group together, such as accessions from South Western Asia, Central Western Europe, and the Mediterranean region. The correlation between the morphological matrix and the genetic matrix based on RAPD markers was not significant (r = 0.027). Wide diversity in safflower germplasm indicates a considerable potential for improving this crop for both agronomic and quality traits.     

Genetic Diversity Among Traditional Ethiopian Highland Maize Accessions Assessed by Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers

Over the past three centuries, maize has become adapted to complex environmental conditions in the highlands of Ethiopia. We analyzed 62 traditional Ethiopian highland maize accessions, using 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 15 morphological traits, to assess genetic diversity and relationships among these accessions and to assess the level of correlation between phenotypic and genetic distances. The accessions varied significantly for all of the measured morphological traits. The average number of alleles per locus was 4.9. Pair-wise genetic dissimilarity coefficients ranged from 0.27 to 0.63 with a mean of 0.49. Ward minimum variance cluster analysis showed that accessions collected from the Northern agroecology were distinct from the Western and Southern agroecologies. However, there was no differentiation between the Western and Southern accessions. This suggested gene flow between these regions. The relationship between morphological and SSR-based distances was significant and positive (r = 0.43, p = 0.001). The high genetic diversity observed among these set of accessions, suggests ample opportunity for the development of improved varieties for different agroecologies of Ethiopia. From conservation perspective, sampling many accessions from all agroecologies would be an effective way of capturing genetic variation for future collections and conservation.     

Carbon isotope discrimination and water use efficiency in Iranian diploid,tetraploid and hexaploid wheats grown under well-watered conditions

Carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) has been proposed as physiological criterion to select C₃ crops for yield and water use efficiency. The relationships between carbon isotope discrimination (Δ), water use efficiency for grain and biomass production (WUE_G and WUE_B, respectively) and plant and leaf traits were examined in 20 Iranian wheat genotypes including einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L. subsp. monococcum) accessions, durum wheat (T. turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn.) landraces and bread wheat (T. aestivum L. subsp. aestivum) landraces and improved cultivars, grown in pots under well-watered conditions. Carbon isotope discrimination was higher in diploid than in hexaploid and tetraploid wheats and was negatively associated with grain yield across species as well as within bread wheat. It was also positively correlated to stomatal frequency. The highest WUE_G and grain yield were noted in bread wheat and the lowest in einkorn wheat. Einkorn and bread wheat had higher WUE_B and biomass than durum wheat. WUE_G and WUE_B were significantly negatively associated to Δ across species as well as within bread and durum wheat. The variation for WUE_G was mainly driven by the variation for harvest index across species and by the variation for Δ within species. The quantity of water extracted by the crop, that was closely correlated to root mass, poorly influenced WUE_G. Environmental conditions and genetic variation for water use efficiency related traits appear to highly determine the relationships between WUE_G and its different components (water consumed, transpiration efficiency and carbon partitioning).     

Eco-geographical distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactuca aculeata</Emphasis> natural populations in northeastern Israel

The wild lettuce, Lactuca aculeata Boiss. et Ky., is closely related and fully interfertile with cultivated lettuce, Lactuca sativa L. Altogether, 155 accessions of this wild species, which is rare conserved within the world’s germplasm collections, were collected from 12 localities throughout northeastern Israel. Ten of these localities represent different sites across the Golan Heights, while two, high-density populations were suprisingly found at the Hula Plain (first report of this species in this region). Lactuca aculeata was recorded at various elevations (222–968 m a.s.l.) and habitats. The taxonomic status of 30 L. aculeata accessions was morphologically validated during ex situ seed regeneration of 31 random accessions representing all 12 localities. Characterization of 12 traits showed that the Israeli populations of L. aculeata do not exhibit broad morphological variability, but more great levels of variation were obtained for developmental traits. Relatively little variability was observed in the morphology of cauline leaves or in the distribution of anthocyanin pigmentation in bracteae. In two cases, L. aculeata plants lacked trichomes in the inflorescence, a typical feature in the majority of plants. These unique collections of wild lettuce may carry novel sources of genetic variation for a wide range of traits and, thus, should be of interest for careful evaluation and exploitation in lettuce breeding.     

Genetic variation for waxy proteins and amylose content in Spanish spelt wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum spelta</Emphasis> L.)

Spelt wheat is a neglected crop that could be used in the quality breeding of modern common wheat. One important aspect of this quality is the starch composition which is related to the waxy proteins. A collection of 420 accessions of Spanish spelt wheat was analysed for waxy protein composition by SDS–PAGE. Polymorphism was found in the three waxy proteins, detecting differences both in size and in activity, and a new waxy allele (Wx-D1g) was identified. Seed amylose content was also determined and significant differences were detected among the different allelic combinations. In general, the accessions carrying one or two waxy null alleles showed less amylose content. The variation found could be used to enlarge the genetic pool of common wheat, or to develop lines of spelt with different levels of amylose content.     

Genetic diversity of Cucurbita maxima assessed using morphological characteristics and random-amplified polymorphic DNA markers in China

Cucurbita maxima is one of the most widely cultivated Cucurbitaceae in Heilongjiang province, China. The objectives of this study were to clarify the genetic diversity of 44 accessions from different geographical origins using morphological and molecular characteristics and to compare the consistency of these morphological and molecular characteristics. Morphological characteristics showed a large qualitative variability primarily according to fruit-related traits. Twenty-eight random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers produced 128 bands. Both morphological characteristics and RAPD markers grouped 44 accessions of C. maxima into four clusters, and the similarity coefficients ranged from 0.70 to 0.91 and from 0.40 to 0.98, respectively. DNA polymorphisms were highly consistent with phenotypic traits on rootstock C. maxima. The relationships between C. maxima from different origins were not clearly defined via morphological characteristics and RAPD analysis, suggesting some traits of C. maxima were specific to geographical location had disappeared or were weak in Heilongjiang province, which would not facilitate pumpkin breeding. Hybrid generations and their parent plants or sister lines were grouped into sub-clusters and showed little genetic distance according to both evaluation methods. Overall, morphological characteristics and RAPD markers were consistent and revealed high genetic diversity between C. maxima landraces from different origins.     

Variation and genetic diversity for gliadins in Spanish spelt wheat accessions

Gliadin composition has been analysed in 403 accessions of spelt wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta); 61 different patterns were found for the -gliadins, 44 for the -gliadins, 19 for the -gliadins and 15 for the -gliadins. A subset of 333 accessions belonging to fifty populations from Asturias, North of Spain, showed high levels of genetic variation (A = 3.89, P = 0.88, Ne = 3.35 and He = 0.553), indicating that 82.5% of the genetic variation was within populations, and only 18.5% among populations. Thirty-five of these populations presented more of five accessions, in this new subset the values of genetic variation were higher that those of fifty populations (A = 4.49, P = 0.91, Ne = 3.80 and He = 0.595). The genetic variation within populations was 59.7% of the total, and 40.3% among populations, which could be associated to fixation effects of some alleles by genetic drift.     

Variation in melon (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis melo</Emphasis>) landraces adapted to the humid tropics of southern India

We present here the first comprehensive genetic characterization of melon landraces from the humid tropics of southern India. The genetic diversity among 50 melon landraces collected from 3 agro-ecological regions of southern India (6 agro-ecological sub-regions) was assessed by variation at 17 SSR loci, morphological traits of plant habit and fruit, 2 yield-associated traits, pest and disease resistance, biochemical composition (ascorbic acid, carotenoids, titrable acidity) and mineral content (P, K, Fe, Zn). Differences among accessions were observed in plant and fruit traits. Melon germplasm with high titrable acidity, higher than average amounts of mineral content and resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus, Zucchini yellow mosaic virus, powdery mildew (races 1, 2, 3, 5), Fusarium wilt (races 1, 2), Aphis gossypii and leafminer was recorded in the collection. A high level of genetic variability in melon germplasm was suggested by the SSR analysis. Comparative analysis using SSRs of the genetic variability between Indian melons from north, south, and east regions and reference accessions of melon from Spain, France, Japan, Korea, Iraq, Zambia showed regional differentiation between Indian melon accessions and that Indian germplasm was weakly related to the melon accessions from other parts of the world, suggesting that an important portion of the genetic variability found within this melon collection has not been used yet for the development of new cultivars. Additional collections of acidulus melon germplasm should be made in southern India and adequate management of this important genetic resource is clearly a necessity.     

Wild melon diversity in India (Punjab State)

We present here the first comprehensive genetic characterization of wild melon accessions from northern India. The genetic diversity among 43 wild melon accessions collected from the six agro-ecological regions of the Punjab State of India was assessed by measuring variation at 16 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) loci, morphological traits of plant habit and fruit morphological traits, two yield-associated traits, root nematode resistance and biochemical composition (ascorbic acid, carotenoids, titrable acidity). Variation among accessions was observed in plant habit and fruit traits and wild melon germplasm with high acidity and elevated carotenoid content and possessing resistance to Meloidogyne incognita was identified in the collection. A high level of genetic variability in wild melon germplasm was suggested by SSR analysis. Comparative analysis using SSRs of the genetic variability between wild melons from the north and other melons from the south and east regions of India and also reference accessions of cultivated melon from Spain, Japan, Korea, Maldives, Iraq and Israel, showed regional differentiation among Indian melon accessions and that Indian germplasm was not closely related to melon accessions from other parts of the world. A highly drought tolerant accession belonging to var. agrestis Naud. was also identified.     

Allelopathy variation in dryland winter wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.) accessions grown on the Loess Plateau of China for about fifty years

In this study, we investigated the genetic variation of allelopathic potential, its grey correlation with important agronomic characters, and rank analysis on allelopathic stability of fifteen wheat accessions commonly grown in arid regions of the Loess Plateau in China. The genetic variation of allelopathic property in dryland winter wheat showed significant differences between accessions. Allelopathic effects exhibited high heritability (55–95%) throughout the life cycle of wheat. Heritability was highest in the tillering stage and weakest in the seed filling stage. Allelopathic potential varied and was discontinuous throughout the wheat life cycle. Grey correlation analysis indicated a close relationship between allelopathic potential dependant on growth phase and agronomic characters. Allelopathic expression during some growth periods induced a partial correlation effect on some important agronomic characters that affected wheat yield. Allelopathic heritability and its degree of influence on yield were more evident in the vegetative growth stage compared to the reproductive stage. A multiple linear regression was built between allelopathic potential during different growth periods and agronomic characters pursued in wheat breeding. Allelopathic potential had a linear effect on production traits cultivated in wheat breeding. When allelopathic intensity varied from 0 to 1 in the reproductive stage, plant height ranged from 44 to 108 cm, spike length from 6.4 to 9.2 cm, number of spikelets with seeds from 13.4 to 21.0, mean seed number per spike from 41.5 to 50.3 and thousand seed weight from 36.2 to 38.3 g. Based on rank analysis, we concluded that there was a synergistic relationship between allelopathic potential in wheat and genetic, chemical and ecological factors. Triticum aestivum L. ‘No 6 Lankao’ and T. aestivum L. ‘No 22 Xiaoyan’ were identified as stable and relatively strong allelopathic accessions, whereas T. aestivum L. ‘Lankao 95–25’ was a stable but relatively weak allelopathic cultivar. Other varieties showed unstable allelopathic potential.     

Genetic and morphological variation in breadfruit (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Artocarpus altilis</Emphasis> (Park.) Fosberg) in the Western Ghats of India using AFLP markers

Artocarpus altilis (Park.) Fosberg is an important fruit vegetable tree grown in the homesteads of southern part of India. To provide reasoned scientific management practices and conservation measures, the pattern of morphological and genetic variation were investigated for six populations using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers and 15 morphological traits. The use of five selective primer combinations on 60 samples resulted a total of 414 bands in which 85% were polymorphic. The values of Nei’s genetic distance varied from 0.0044 (Palai–Palghat) to 0.3376 (Palghat–Mangalore). Analysis of molecular variance revealed most of the variation within populations (57.45%) than (42.55%) among populations. The genetic variation by AFLP data is not reflected in quantitative morphological variables. However, the genetic and geographical distances were positively correlated which were further well supported by the PCO analysis and Dollo-parsimony tree, both show the tendency of the individuals to group according to the geographical localities.     

Diversity among landraces of Indian snapmelon (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis melo</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">momordica</Emphasis>)

Diversity among 36 snapmelon landraces, collected from 2 agro-ecological regions of India (9 agro-climatic sub-regions), was assayed using RAPD primers, morphological traits of plant habit and fruit, 2 yield-associated traits, pest and disease resistance and biochemical composition (TSS, ascorbic acid, titrable acidity). Typical differences among accessions were observed in plant and fruit characteristics and snapmelon germplasm with high titrable acidity and possessing resistance to downy mildew, Cucumber mosaic virus, Zucchini yellow mosaic virus, Papaya ringspot virus, Aphis gossypii and Meloidogyne incognita was noticed in the collection. RAPD based grouping analysis revealed that Indian snapmelon was rich in genetic variation and region and sub-region approach should be followed across India for acquisition of additional melon landraces. Accessions of var. agrestis and var. momordica clustered together and there was a separate cluster of the accessions of var. reticulatus. Comparative analysis of the genetic variability among Indian snapmelons and an array of previously characterized reference accessions of melon from Spain, Israel, Korea, Japan, Maldives, Iraq, Pakistan and India using SSRs showed that Indian snapmelon germplasm contained a high degree of unique genetic variability which was needed to be preserved to broaden the genetic base of melon germplasm available with the scientific community. N. P. S. Dhillon and Ranjana contributed equally to this work and are considered the first authors.