GENETIC DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF DOMESTICATED WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) AND WILD WHEAT (Aegilops species)

Diversity of four domesticated wheat cultivars (Sids 1, Sakha 93, Giza 168 and Gemmeiza 10 and two wild wheat (Aegilops ventricosa and Aegilops kotchyi) were analyzed by morphological, biochemical and molecular analysis. Five morphological characteristics i.e. Heading to date (days), stem number/plant, number of spike/plant, grain number/spike and 1000 grains weight (g) were calculated to show the difference among wheat cultivars and their relatives Aegilops species. High significant variations were observed among the wild and domesticated wheat cultivars. The four domesticated wheat cultivars was earlier in heading to date compared with the wild species with range 20 to 31 days in average. Biochemical analysis for peroxidase isozymes profile exhibited three marker bands (PxA1, PxC1 and PxC3) for the wild type cultivars, also Ae. ventricosa expressed unique marker band at Px5c locus. Fourteen (10 mer) RAPD-PCR were used to detect the genetic diversity. In Total of 550 amplified fragments, 51 DNA specific markers were detected. The number of reproducible bands/primer varied between 18 for primer OPC-12 and 56 for primer OPH-11 with a total of 550 bands. The largest number of these markers was specific for wild wheat, Ae. ventricoas and Ae. kotchyi (20 and 12 markers, in respect). Furthermore, two specific large markers (1801 and 2332 bp) were observed in the two wild types. Also, two specific markers (280 and 987 bp) were reported for domesticated wheat Sakha 93. While, Giza 168 showed 5 specific marker (209, 311, 578, 873 and 2510 bp) and finally Sids 1 and Gemmeiza 10 exhibited 6 specific marker ranged from (400 to 1108 bp). High similarity between the two wild wheat types was recorded. The four domesticated wheat cultivars were clustered in one group.