Genetic Diversity in Durum Wheat Collections of Azerbaijan Based on SSR Markers

Genetic diversity and relationships among durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) accessions and varieties be-
longed to 29 botanical varieties was studied using simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker system. A to-
tal of 104 alleles were produced using 13 SSR primers for 145 durum wheat accessions, with an aver-
age of 8 bands per primer. The mean H, and PIC values were 0.62 and 0.58, respectively, which indi-
cates high diversity in the studied collection. The higher diversities were obtained for var. leucurum
(PIC=0.57) and var. hordeiforme (PIC=0.51). No clear grouping pattern was revealed based on botani-
cal varieties, with few exceptions, indicating a significant amount of shared alleles among them. The
highest similarity was noted between var. hordeiforme and var. melonopus, while var. leucurum and
var. melanopus turgidoid were the most distant. Rich diversity revealed among durum wheat cultivars
and botanical varieties can be used as a valuable source for future breeding programs.