Identification of biotic stress tolerant wheat germplasm using morphological and molecular approaches

Abstract

The present work, fifty wheat genotypes were evaluated for variation in some quantitative traits, to recognize the characters that contribute to grains yield that may be used as a selection criterion in the wheat breeding program. Variation in flag leaf area, No. of tillers, peduncle length, leaf angle, Spike length, 50% heading, number of nodes per plant, days to maturity, plant height, awn length, number of spikelet per spike, number of grains per spike, spike density, 1000 grain weight, harvest index, yield per plant, were recorded. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits. The highest mean value for flag leaf area and peduncle length was recorded in genotypes 010754 and 010787 respectively. The number of tillers per plant was recorded highest for 011869 and 010758. Spike length in 010736. Plant height in 010777, awn length in 010799. The number of spikelets per spike in 010754, number of grains per spike in 011869. While harvest index in genotype 011869. The 50 wheat genotypes were screened for the presence of Yr39 gene by using RGA marker. This polymorphic survey revealed that out of fifty genotypes the Yr39 gene was found in, 010775, 010774, 010744, 011872, 010739, 010716, 010767, 010749, 011869, 010754, 010722, 010728, 010721, 010748, 010758, 010786, 010797, 010751, 010787 and 010792. The genotypes 011869, 010720, 010758 and 010754 outperformed for most of the traits studied and also contain Yr39 gene. So these are recommended for incorporation in stress breeding program.