Estimation of Indian and Turkish Hexaploid Wheat Population Structure Employing Molecular Markers

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the most commonly grown crop due to its adaptation in a wide range of ecogeographical conditions and providing enhanced food assurance to the modern world. A diverse and rich collection is the foundation of each successful wheat improvement program. Therefore, major efforts are in progress worldwide to boost wheat production by broadening genetic diversity. Accepting this issue as a target, present study gives an overview of the major progress in the diversity and population evaluation of Indian and Turkish hexaploid wheat employing ISSR and RAPD primers. Various statistical analyses were employed for determining the hexaploid wheat population structure of India and Turkey. Results of dendrogram, scatterplots, Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) and population structure analysis were found in accordance with each other. All the experimental genotypes were clustered in two main groups, one group containing Indian varieties and another group containing both Indian and Turkish varieties reflecting the direct or indirect interbreeding among the populations of the two countries. Utilizing the genetic association of Indian and Turkish hexaploid wheat population, based on genetic distance estimated in the study, researchers worldwide may include Indian and Turkish hexaploid varieties in the wheat improvement programs and can evade the likelihood of selected germplasm becoming hereditarily consistent.