Species variation of Aegilops genus and heavy metal content in plant habitat soil at southern Adriatic localities

The Aegilops genus is a wild relative to the bread wheat, having chromosomes homologous to wheat chromosomes. That genus could be the source of many usefull abiotic stress tolerance genes. Facing a global climate changes, as well as, environmental erosion, it is important to create a desirable genetic variability that could correspond to environmental challenges. Heavy metals in soil could cause soil pollution, could lead to different phenotypic changes in plants, and could enter food chain. Assessment of Aegilops sp. population variation, as well as, heavy metal content in their habitat was the main goal in this research. Aegilops population composition was examined and samples were taken from 55 localities of South Adriatic coastal and littoral areas. Topsoil samples from all the localities were taken and heavy metal content, namely Cr, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd and Cu, was analyzed,. Manganese content was measured, as well. Value of pH was established