INVESTIGATING THE ALLELIC VARIATION OF LOCI CONTROLLING RUST RESISTANCE GENES IN WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) LAND RACES BY SSR MARKER.

A study was conducted to determine the status of gene combination for rust (Puccinia spp.) resistance in 100 indigenous wheat land races also yield related traits were evaluated at two different locations during the 2016-17 periods with Randomized Complete Block Design. Variations for the studied traits were conferred by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), PC1 with 80.1% variation for the Peshawar, and 93.8% for the Islamabad location. WMC419, XGWM120, GWM174, XGWM140, XGWM410, XGWM111, WMC773, XWMC170, XWMC405, XWMC348 and XWMC407 has no allelic variation because of monomorphic nature while XGWM35 (200&225 bp), GWM 148 (190&200 bp), Barc 86 (200&210 bp), BARC 114 (105&200 bp), CSLV34 (150&190 bp), PSP3000 (300&350 bp), XGWM493 (150&300 bp), XGWM153 (100&300 bp), XGWM44 with 120,285,500 & 700 bp, XBARC4 (90&200 bp), XGWM125 (150&190 bp) show variation in alleles. Analysis of Yellow rust (Yr5,7,10,15,18,19,26,29,34, P138 and Sr13,) and leaf rust (Lr19,34 and 49) revealed A and B resistance groups. Group A comprised of 36% of total accessions, while rest of the accessions (64%) were present in group B. The study revealed high level of diversity assessed through PCA and cluster analysis. Based on marker results, 23 wheat lines ranging 17-21 alleles in combination were identified. These lines have great potential to be used in rust resistance breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]