Collection, Identification and Conservation of Wheat Landraces in Kahramanmaras Province in East Mediterranean Region of Turkey

Abstract

Wheat germplasms represent a broad resource of genetic diversity that can be used for future wheat breeding efforts. In order to obtain an overview of genetic diversity and relationships of wheat landraces, we collected diverse genetic materials from Kahramanmaras, located in the East-Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Landraces, collected from the region, were classified into species by using morphological, physiological and agronomic characteristics. In addition, differences among gliadin proteins of landraces were identified by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. We identified fourteen accessions, six genotypes of T. aestivum which were T. aestivum L. ssp. vulgare Vill.; T. aestivum L. ssp. vulgare Vill. v. graecum Korn.; T. aestivum L. ssp. vulgare Vill. v. erythroleucon Korn; T. aestivum L. ssp. compactum v. splendes; T. aestivum L. ssp. compactum v. pseudo-rupriceps Flaksb.; T. aestivum L. ssp. compactum v. humboldtii; and six genotypes of durum, which were T. durum Desf. v. leucurum Al.; T. durum Desf. v. hordeiforme Korn.; T. durum Desf.; T. durum Desf. ssp. duro-compactum Flaksb. v. recognitum Perc; T. durum Desf. ssp. duro-compactum Flaksb. v. pseudo-hordeiforme Flaksb; T. durum Desf. ssp. duro-compactum Flaksb; one accession of T. vavilovii Sears and one accession of T. turanicum Jakubz. (T. orientale Pers.). Landraces had a large genetic diversity for agronomic traits, such as 1000-grain weight, grain number and weight per head, while they had narrow diversity for the other traits.