AN ASSESSMENT OF THE GENETIC DIVERSITY IN SELECTED WHEAT LINES USING MOLECULAR MARKERS AND PCA-BASED CLUSTER ANALYSIS

A comprehensive germplasm evaluation study of wheat elite lines was conducted at Wheat Research Institute Faisalabad-Pakistan to identify new sources of leaf, stripe and stem rust resistance and high yield potential during crop seasons 2015-2017. The parent lines were selected on the basis of phenotypic characteristics and slow rusting history for race non-specific resistance genes by the selection of desirable parents used in filial generation (F1-F5). In primary evaluation, 112 lines were selected on the basis of rust reaction and high phenotypic uniformity for further testing against rust resistance and high yield potential. Among these, 32 lines exhibited Lr34/Yr18, 22 lines showed Lr46/Yr29, and 30 lines indicated the combination of Sr2/Yr30. Principal component analysis (PCA) based cluster analysis exhibited that, cluster I and III had clear separation compared to cluster II, IV and V. It was concluded that seven elite lines i.e. V-70003, V-70034, V-70054, V-70070, V-70085, V-70103 and V-70104 exhibited both the linkages of three slow rusting genes (Lr34/Yr18, Lr46/Yr29 and Sr2/Yr30) and high yield characteristics and are expected to contribute toward food security at national and global levels.