International Wheat Research Articles

Wheat Blast: A Disease Spreading by Intercontinental Jumps and Its Management Strategies.

Wheat blast (WB) caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT) is an important fungal disease in tropical and subtropical wheat production regions. The disease was initially identified in Brazil in 1985, and it subsequently spread to some major wheat-producing areas of the country as well as several South American countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. In recent years, WB has been introduced to Bangladesh and Zambia via international wheat trade, threatening wheat production in South Asia and Southern Africa with the possible further spreading in these two continents. Resistance source is mostly limited to 2NS carriers, which are being eroded by newly emerged MoT isolates, demonstrating an urgent need for identification and utilization of non-2NS resistance sources. Fungicides are also being heavily relied on to manage WB that resulted in increasing fungal resistance, which should be addressed by utilization of new fungicides or rotating different fungicides. Additionally, quarantine measures, cultural practices, non-fungicidal chemical treatment, disease forecasting, biocontrol etc., are also effective components of integrated WB management, which could be used in combination with varietal resistance and fungicides to obtain reasonable management of this disease.

Field Evaluation of Heat Stress-Resilient Maize Hybrids for Improved and Stable Maize Production in Nepal

In recent years, National Maize Research Program (NMRP) aimed a paradigm shift from open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) towards hybrid maize to achieve self-sufficiency in maize for food, feed, and hybrid seed within the country. In this mission, it is necessary to identify and deploy high-yielding stress-resilient maize hybrids that can cope with climate change effects, including heat stress. Under the project “Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA)”, NMRP introduced the hybrids that performed better in previous years in different environments from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Hyderabad for multilocation on-farm testing. Fifteen genotypes were evaluated at two locations, two sites in Madi, Chitwan, and one in Ghorahi, Dang, along with Rampur Hybrid-8 as a heat-tolerant check, and RML-86/RML-96 and RML-95/RML-96 as normal checks. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with three replicates during the spring of 2016/17. Likewise, another 20 and 18 promising hybrids were demonstrated during the winter of 2016/17 and 2017/18, respectively, in different hybrid growing pockets considering a site – a replication. Grain yield and yield attributing traits at all locations were recorded. From the across-site data analysis, selected heat-tolerant hybrids from the experiment were CAH1432, ZH15405, ZH141592, and CAH1715 which were statistically at par with promising normal hybrid RML-86/RML-96 and superior to already released heat-tolerant Rampur Hybrid-8. In 2016/17, ZH138098, ZH1620, and VH121062 were farmers’ preferred heat-tolerant hybrids. In 2017/18, Rampur Hybrid-10, ZH141592, CAH1715, and ZH15440 were preferred by farmers. The selected bestbet are taken forward for official release/registration followed by commercialization through a public-private partnership with Nepali seed companies/cooperatives. SAARC J. Agric., 19(1): 27-43 (2021)

Harnessing translational research in wheat for climate resilience.

Despite being the world's most widely grown crop, research investments in wheat (Triticum aestivum and Triticum durum) fall behind those in other staple crops. Current yield gains will not meet 2050 needs, and climate stresses compound this challenge. However, there is good evidence that heat and drought resilience can be boosted through translating promising ideas into novel breeding technologies using powerful new tools in genetics and remote sensing, for example. Such technologies can also be applied to identify climate resilience traits from among the vast and largely untapped reserve of wheat genetic resources in collections worldwide. This review describes multi-pronged research opportunities at the focus of the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (coordinated by CIMMYT), which together create a pipeline to boost heat and drought resilience, specifically: improving crop design targets using big data approaches; developing phenomic tools for field-based screening and research; applying genomic technologies to elucidate the bases of climate resilience traits; and applying these outputs in developing next-generation breeding methods. The global impact of these outputs will be validated through the International Wheat Improvement Network, a global germplasm development and testing system that contributes key productivity traits to approximately half of the global wheat-growing area.

Mapping for Adult-Plant Resistance Against Septoria Tritici Blotch in a Common Wheat Line Murga.

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) is a major foliar disease globally that is notorious for quickly developing fungicide resistance, making host resistance an indispensable component in mitigating STB. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) wheat line Murga is well known for its high, durable, and broad-spectrum resistance against STB infection. This study aimed to investigate the resistance mechanism of Murga to facilitate its utilization in breeding. A recombinant inbred line population was derived from a cross between Murga and STB-susceptible line Huirivis#1, comprising 297 progenies. The population was evaluated for adult-plant STB resistance in Toluca, Mexico (from 2017 to 2019), and in La Estanzuela, Uruguay (from 2016 to 2018). Genotyping was performed with the DArTseq platform. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping indicated a major and stable QTL on chromosome 3DL, explaining a phenotypic variation for STB of 41.2 to 62.5% in Mexico and 27.5 to 40.3% in Uruguay. This QTL was regarded as Stb16 based on the comparison of its physical position, the possible origin from synthetic wheat, and its broad-spectrum resistance. Additional QTLs with minor effects were identified on chromosomes 2B, 2D, 3A, 3B, and 5B. The QTL on 5BS was significant in four of the six environments and must be new. Murga was the resistant donor for all QTLs except for those on 2B and 3A. Being an elite breeding line, Stb16 carrier Murga could be used as a promising STB resistance donor. Rational employment of Stb16 could contribute to STB management yet avoid the rapid emergence of Stb16-virulent isolates.

Target Population of Environments for Wheat Breeding in India: Definition, Prediction and Genetic Gains.

In this study, we defined the target population of environments (TPE) for wheat breeding in India, the largest wheat producer in South Asia, and estimated the correlated response to the selection and prediction ability of five selection environments (SEs) in Mexico. We also estimated grain yield (GY) gains in each TPE. Our analysis used meteorological, soil, and GY data from the international Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYT) distributed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from 2001 to 2016. We identified three TPEs: TPE 1, the optimally irrigated Northwestern Plain Zone; TPE 2, the optimally irrigated, heat-stressed North Eastern Plains Zone; and TPE 3, the drought-stressed Central-Peninsular Zone. The correlated response to selection ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 within each TPE. The highest prediction accuracies for GY per TPE were derived using models that included genotype-by-environment interaction and/or meteorological information and their interaction with the lines. The highest prediction accuracies for TPEs 1, 2, and 3 were 0.37, 0.46, and 0.51, respectively, and the respective GY gains were 118, 46, and 123 kg/ha/year. These results can help fine-tune the breeding of elite wheat germplasm with stable yields to reduce farmers’ risk from year-to-year environmental variation in India’s wheat lands, which cover 30 million ha, account for 100 million tons of grain or more each year, and provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of farmers and consumers in South Asia.

Wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr13 is a specific Ne2 allele for hybrid necrosis

Wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr13 is a specific Ne2 allele for hybrid necrosis

High-temperature wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr13 exhibits pleiotropic effects on hybrid necrosis

High-temperature wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr13 exhibits pleiotropic effects on hybrid necrosis

MirMachine: A One-Stop Shop for Plant miRNA Annotation.

Of different types of noncoding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) have arguably been in the spotlight over the last decade. As post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, miRNAs play key roles in various cellular pathways, including both development and response to a/biotic stress, such as drought and diseases. Having high-quality reference genome sequences enabled identification and annotation of miRNAs in several plant species, where miRNA sequences are highly conserved. As computational miRNA identification and annotation processes are mostly error-prone processes, homology-based predictions increase prediction accuracy. We developed and have improved the miRNA annotation pipeline, SUmir, in the last decade, which has been used for several plant genomes since then. This study presents a fully automated, new miRNA pipeline, mirMachine (miRNA Machine), by (i) adding an additional filtering step on the secondary structure predictions, (ii) making it fully automated, and (iii) introducing new options to predict either known miRNA based on homology or novel miRNAs based on small RNA sequencing reads using the previous pipeline. The new miRNA pipeline, mirMachine, was tested using The Arabidopsis Information Resource, TAIR10, release of the Arabidopsis genome and the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) wheat reference genome v2.

Physical Mapping of QTL in Four Spring Wheat Populations under Conventional and Organic Management Systems. I. Earliness.

In previous studies, we reported quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the heading, flowering, and maturity time in four hard red spring wheat recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations but the results are scattered in population-specific genetic maps, which is challenging to exploit efficiently in breeding. Here, we mapped and characterized QTL associated with these three earliness traits using the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) RefSeq v2.0 physical map. Our data consisted of (i) 6526 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two traits evaluated at five conventionally managed environments in the ‘Cutler’ × ‘AC Barrie’ population; (ii) 3158 SNPs and two traits evaluated across three organic and seven conventional managements in the ‘Attila’ × ‘CDC Go’ population; (iii) 5731 SilicoDArT and SNP markers and the three traits evaluated at four conventional and organic management systems in the ‘Peace’ × ‘Carberry’ population; and (iv) 1058 SNPs and two traits evaluated across two conventionally and organically managed environments in the ‘Peace’ × ‘CDC Stanley’ population. Using composite interval mapping, the phenotypic data across all environments, and the IWGSC RefSeq v2.0 physical maps, we identified a total of 44 QTL associated with days to heading (11), flowering (10), and maturity (23). Fifteen of the 44 QTL were common to both conventional and organic management systems, and the remaining QTL were specific to either the conventional (21) or organic (8) management systems. Some QTL harbor known genes, including the Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1, Rht-A1, and Rht-B1 that regulate photoperiodism, flowering time, and plant height in wheat, which lays a solid basis for cloning and further characterization.

Price Dynamics of Domestic and International Wheat Markets: A Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) Approach

Market integration in agricultural commodities is vital for both developed and developing countries alike. If prices are not dreamily transmitted, then it may lead to biases in production and distribution. The strength of interdependence among markets and the speed in which the changes are passed through determine the degree of integration and the global efficiency of markets. This study examines the long-run and short-run integration of domestic and international wheat markets using Co-integration approach within the framework of Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM). A sample of two domestic wheat markets comprising two from the national wheat markets of Mathura (UP) and Khanna (Punjab) were selected along with two international wheat markets comprising from United States and Argentina. Analysis was carried out using the monthly price data between January 2003 and Dec 2019. Findings discovered that the prices became stationary merely upon first differencing. The presence of integration was confirmed among markets involving that there is price conduction.

The genetics of late maturity alpha-amylase (LMA) in North American spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

AbstractGenetic susceptibility to late maturity alpha-amylase (LMA) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) results in increased alpha-amylase activity in mature grain when cool conditions occur during late grain maturation. Farmers are forced to sell wheat grain with elevated alpha-amylase at a discount because it has an increased risk of poor end-product quality. This problem can result from either LMA or preharvest sprouting, grain germination on the mother plant when rain occurs before harvest. Whereas preharvest sprouting is a well-understood problem, little is known about the risk LMA poses to North American wheat crops. To examine this, LMA susceptibility was characterized in a panel of 251 North American hard spring wheat lines, representing ten geographical areas. It appears that there is substantial LMA susceptibility in North American wheat since only 27% of the lines showed reproducible LMA resistance following cold-induction experiments. A preliminary genome-wide association study detected six significant marker-trait associations. LMA in North American wheat may result from genetic mechanisms similar to those previously observed in Australian and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) germplasm since two of the detected QTLs, QLMA.wsu.7B and QLMA.wsu.6B, co-localized with previously reported loci. The Reduced height (Rht) loci also influenced LMA. Elevated alpha-amylase levels were significantly associated with the presence of both wild-type and tall height, rht-B1a and rht-D1a, loci in both cold-treated and untreated samples.

Influence of Short-term Maize–Green Manure Cover Crop Rotations on Germinable Weed Seed Bank under Conservation Agriculture

The effects of one- and two-year maize-cover crop rotations on weed seed bank density and species composition were evaluated in fields at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT, Harare) between 2014 and 2017. Nine cover crops were rotated, and maize and weed seed bank analyses were done using the seedling emergence method. Maize was used as the control. The results indicated that weed seed density was not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by cover crop mulch type across the seasons. There was a significant (p < 0.05) decline in weed density in the second maize phase of the rotation in UZ Field A. Bidens pilosa, Galinsoga parviflora, Amaranthus hybridus and Eleusine indica were the dominant weeds. B. pilosa density significantly decreased in the second season in UZ Field A but did not vary significantly among cover crops. Significant changes in weed species richness, evenness, and diversity were observed only in the second phase of the rotation in UZ Field A. The results suggest that maize-cover crop rotations could be effective in reducing seed bank size in the short term but have no short-term effect on weed species community composition.

The Global Crisis of Commodity Glut During the Second World War

This article examines the global crisis of commodity glut that came in the wake of the Fall of France and Italy’s entry into the Second World War in June 1940, when the extension of the British blockade and shipping problems cut off primary producers around the world from major continental European markets. As a surplus of unmarketable primary commodities piled up in British colonies, as well as in Latin America and French, Dutch, and Belgian colonies, this jeapordized the blockade and threatened political unrest across the British Empire, as well as the spread of Nazi influence in Latin America. This article examines how the British government attempted to respond to this crisis, both unilaterally and in combination with the U.S. government. In doing so, it argues that Anglo-American negotiations over a joint approach to the problem of commodity glut led to some of the earliest attempts to create new international economic organizations for the postwar period. While these plans were transformed as the surplus problem itself changed in late 1941, they nonetheless laid the groundwork for Anglo-American relief planning, contentious negotiations over an international wheat agreement, and international commodity price stabilization schemes.

Transmission of global wheat prices to domestic markets in Kenya: A cointegration approach

This paper evaluates the extent to which changes in international wheat prices are transmitted to domestic markets in Kenya using an error correction model (ECM) that employs monthly producer price data for the period 2002 to 2020. Domestic wheat markets in Kenya were found to be strongly integrated while, international wheat markets were cointegrated with domestic prices at the port of Mombasa. The long-run elasticity of price transmission was estimated at 0.91, which implies that 91% of the changes in international wheat prices are transmitted to domestic markets in Kenya. The speed of adjustment was estimated at -0.069, which implies that it takes about 14 months for the changes in the international wheat price to be fully transmitted to the Kenyan domestic market. Wheat farmers in Kenya seem to be insulated from international price shocks given the long period of time it takes for domestic markets to adjust to international price changes. Even though not explicitly analysed, government border policies, market and infrastructure impediments seem to be underlying causes of the incomplete price pass-through, along with the low speeds of adjustments. Our analysis suggests that the main constraint to a complete pass-through is the existence of price-setting power at the producer level of the wheat market in Kenya. Investments in infrastructure development and the promotion of liberal trade policies can improve the transmission of international wheat price signals to domestic markets in Kenya.

Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Associated With Wheat in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is one of the biggest wheat producers, however, its wheat production is far below the average international wheat production standard due to biotic and abiotic stressors. Plant-parasitic nematodes are devastating for cereal production systems worldwide. A comprehensive survey was conducted in 2019 to identify plant-parasitic nematodes associated with wheat in different locations of central, eastern, and southeastern Kazakhstan. The results revealed 33 root-lesion and 27 cyst nematode populations from the 77 localities sampled. These two genera occurred in separate or in mixed populations. The root-lesion populations were identified as Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei while all cyst nematodes were identified as Heterodera filipjevi. The identification of nematodes was firstly performed based on morphological and morphometric features and confirmed by BLAST and phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer and the D2-D3 expansion located in the 28S gene of ribosomal DNA for CCN and RLN populations, respectively. Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei populations from Kazakhstan showed a high similarity with the American, European, and Asian populations. Heterodera filipjevi populations formed a well-supported cluster with the corresponding populations from different countries and showed a slightly intraspecific polymorphism. Kazakhstan populations of H. filipjevi may have multiple introductions in Kazakhstan due to the divergence among them. The results of this study are of great importance for breeding programs and will enable awareness for extension advisors to develop measures to control these nematodes in cereal cropping areas in Kazakhstan.

Virulence analysis of wheat powdery mildew races during 2019–2020 seasons in Egypt

Wheat powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Bgt) has become a principal disease occurring annually in Egypt followed by rusts which have been effectively controlled using resistance genes. Survey for fresh infected samples of powdery mildew was collected from fields of farmers and International Wheat Programs of five provinces, i.e., El-Gharbia, Kafr Sheikh, Dakahlia, Menoufia and Behera in Delta Egypt during 2019 and 2020 growing seasons. A total of 37 powdery mildew genes (Pm) including 16 known differentials were evaluated at the seedling stage for resistance and to identify the Bgt pathotypes prevailing in Delta Egypt. 84 isolates of powdery mildew, seven pathotypes were identified in the 2019 season, i.e., BIOE, FOOE, MOIE, MOOE, POEE, OOOE, POCE, while six pathotypes: MOOE, MMOE, COOE, CKKE, MOKE and HOOE were identified in the 2020 season. The pathotype MOOE showed the highest frequency of occurrence during the two seasons (62.16% and 62.18%), respectively. No virulence frequencies were detected in 27.02% of the tested Pm-genes, i.e., Pm11, Pm13, Pm16, Pm24, Pm25, Pm29, Pm32, Pm35, Pm36 and Pm37 during the two seasons of the study. Twenty-four of the 37 Pm-genes showed 5.56 up to 100% virulence frequencies during the two seasons of study, whereas three of the Pm-genes, i.e., Pm1b, Pm12 and Pm34 showed some fluctuations in virulence frequency with values of 16.67% in 2019 season, and 5.55%, 13.89% and 27.78% virulence frequencies in 2020, respectively.

Elucidating the genetics of grain yield and stress-resilience in bread wheat using a large-scale genome-wide association mapping study with 55,568 lines

Wheat grain yield (GY) improvement using genomic tools is important for achieving yield breakthroughs. To dissect the genetic architecture of wheat GY potential and stress-resilience, we have designed this large-scale genome-wide association study using 100 datasets, comprising 105,000 GY observations from 55,568 wheat lines evaluated between 2003 and 2019 by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and national partners. We report 801 GY-associated genotyping-by-sequencing markers significant in more than one dataset and the highest number of them were on chromosomes 2A, 6B, 6A, 5B, 1B and 7B. We then used the linkage disequilibrium (LD) between the consistently significant markers to designate 214 GY-associated LD-blocks and observed that 84.5% of the 58 GY-associated LD-blocks in severe-drought, 100% of the 48 GY-associated LD-blocks in early-heat and 85.9% of the 71 GY-associated LD-blocks in late-heat, overlapped with the GY-associated LD-blocks in the irrigated-bed planting environment, substantiating that simultaneous improvement for GY potential and stress-resilience is feasible. Furthermore, we generated the GY-associated marker profiles and analyzed the GY favorable allele frequencies for a large panel of 73,142 wheat lines, resulting in 44.5 million datapoints. Overall, the extensive resources presented in this study provide great opportunities to accelerate breeding for high-yielding and stress-resilient wheat varieties.

A Major Locus on Wheat Chromosome 7B Associated With Late-Maturity α-Amylase Encodes a Putative ent-Copalyl Diphosphate Synthase

Many wheat varieties have the potential to develop unacceptably high levels of α-amylase in the grains if exposed to a cool temperature shock or simply cool temperature during the early to middle stages of grain filling. This phenomenon is referred to as late maturity α-amylase (LMA). The enzyme persists in the grain until harvest and may result in wheat with a low Falling Number that does not meet receival and export specifications. Resistance to LMA is therefore a valuable target for wheat breeders and wheat industries in general. Genetic evidence implicating a locus on the long arm of chromosome 7B in variation in LMA phenotype was confirmed in this investigation. Through intensive fine-mapping an ent-copalyl diphosphate synthase (CPS), hitherto named LMA-1, was identified as the likely candidate gene associated with variation in LMA phenotype. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) within the LMA-1 coding sequence of Chinese Spring, Maringa and Halberd result in either prematurely terminated or functionally altered proteins that are associated with useful levels of resistance to LMA. LMA-1 transcripts detected in de-embryonated grain tissue from around 15 days after anthesis, several days before the synthesis of α-amylase, were low in the resistant varieties Chinese Spring and Maringa compared with LMA susceptible genotype Spica. This was associated with a dramatic reduction in the concentrations of intermediates in the gibberellin biosynthesis pathway such as GA19, evidence that LMA-1 was functioning as CPS in the gibberellin biosynthesis pathway. A survey of a large collection of Australian and international wheat varieties distinguished 9 major haplotypes at the LMA-1 locus. Generally, within classes, there was notable variation for LMA phenotype and evidence for genotypes whose resistance is presumed to be due to genetic loci located elsewhere on the wheat genome. Further investigation is required to characterize the sequence of steps between LMA-1 and α-amylase synthesis as well as to gain a better understanding of the role and potential impact of other genetic loci. Diagnostic markers for sources of resistance and SNP variation reported in this study should assist breeders to deploy resistance associated with LMA-1 variants in breeding programs.

The genetic structure of CIMMYT and U.S. inbreds and its implications for tropical maize breeding

AbstractThe use of temperate maize (Zea mays L.) inbreds with expired Plant Variety Protection in tropical maize breeding programs could enhance the combining ability for grain yield among tropical heterotic groups. We used DNA markers from the DArTseq genotyping‐by‐sequencing platform to investigate the genetic structure of lines with expired U.S. Plant Variety Protection (ex‐PVP) relative to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's (CIMMYT's) maize heterotic groups. Neighbor‐joining cluster analysis revealed two major groups: CIMMYT and ex‐PVP. The CIMMYT lines clustered according to their pedigree relationships and adaptation, but not according to their heterotic groups. In contrast, ex‐PVP lines clustered according to the Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS) and non‐Stiff Stalk Synthetic (NSSS) heterotic groups, except for a few lines that were considered to be mixed. The genetic divergence, estimated as Wright's fixation index (FST), between BSSS and NSSS (FST = .053, P < .01) was four times as large as the divergence between CIMMYT Tuxpeño and non‐Tuxpeño heterotic groups (FST = .013, P = .068). Estimates of genetic divergence marginally favored breeding with BSSS in Tuxpeño and NSSS in non‐Tuxpeño. However, CIMMYT breeders may still exploit the ex‐PVP heterotic structure fully only by ensuring that the temperate heterotic groups are placed on opposite sides of the Tuxpeño and non‐Tuxpeño heterotic pattern. We also showed how estimates of admixture from model‐based clustering could be used to avoid ex‐PVP lines of mixed heterotic background when selecting lines to maximize the genetic divergence and combining ability of CIMMYT heterotic groups.

Genetic diversity of Ethiopian durum wheat landraces.

Genetic diversity and population structure assessment in crops is essential for marker trait association, marker assisted breeding and crop germplasm conservation. We analyzed a set of 285 durum wheat accessions comprising 215 Ethiopian durum wheat landraces, 10 released durum wheat varieties, 10 advanced durum wheat lines from Ethiopia, and 50 durum wheat lines from CIMMYT. We investigated the genetic diversity and population structure for the complete panel as well as for the 215 landraces, separately based on 11,919 SNP markers with known physical positions. The whole panel was clustered into two populations representing on the one hand mainly the landraces, and on the other hand mainly released, advanced and CIMMYT lines. Further population structure analysis of the landraces uncovered 4 subgroups emphasizing the high degree of genetic diversity within Ethiopian durum landraces. Population structure based AMOVA for both sets unveiled significant (P < 0.001) variation between populations and within populations. Total variation within population accessions (81%, 76%) was higher than total variation between populations (19%, 24%) for both sets. Population structure analysis based genetic differentiation (FST) and gene flow (Nm) for the whole set and the Ethiopian landraces were 0.19 and 0.24, 1.04, and 0.81, respectively indicating high genetic differentiation and limited gene flow. Diversity indices verify that the landrace panel was more diverse with (I = 0.7, He = 0.46, uHe = 0.46) than the advanced lines (I = 0.6, He = 0.42, uHe = 0.42). Similarly, differences within the landrace clusters were observed. In summary a high genetic diversity within Ethiopian durum wheat landraces was detected, which may be a target for national and international wheat improvement programs to exploit valuable traits for biotic and abiotic stresses.