Genetic diversity in khorasan and rivet wheat by assessment of morphological traits and seed storage proteins

The genetic diversity of 77 accessions of khorasan wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. turanicum Jakubz em. A. Love & D. Love) and 313 accessions of rivet wheat (T. turgidum L. subsp. turgidum) was assessed on the basis of analysis of several morphological traits and seed storage proteins. Eleven allelic variants were detected in khorasan wheat, three for the Glu-A1, one of them identified as novel; while two of the eight alleles detected for the Glu-B1 have not previously been described. A higher level of variability was observed in rivet wheat, with the detection of 20 allelic variants, five alleles at the Glu-A1 loci, two of them new, and 15 allelic variants at the Glu-B1 loci, six of these being novel. The khorasan wheat accessions derived from 22 different origins, while there were 39 origins for the rivet wheat accessions. Genetic diversity was lower among the khorasan (H-t = 0.395) than among the rivet wheat accessions (H-t = 0.545). Nevertheless, in both species, most of this diversity appeared between origins, with very low diversity observed within origins. The detected variation could be used for transfer new quality genes to durum wheat, thus enlarging the genetic pool of this species.