Morphological variability and genetic diversity of wheat genotypes grown on saline soil and identification of new promising molecular markers associated with salinity tolerance

ABSTRACT

Eleven bread wheat genotypes grown at Siwa Oasis and Ashmon, Menofeya Governorate, during the winter season of 2016/2017 were examined for their agronomic traits under salinity stress. Owing to the differences in the salinity levels at the two locations, significant differences were noticed among the tested genotypes for all traits. Lines L2 and L4 showed the highest grain yields, whereas L3 showed the lowest. The most suitable parameters for screening stress-tolerance were tolerance indices and high-yielding potentiality. In this investigation, 33 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) primers led to the determination of one to three alleles per primer, with an average of 1.36. The use of 31 EST (Expressed Sequence Tag)-SSR markers led to the determination of 38 polymorphic alleles, ranging from one to five, with a mean of 1.23 per locus. A cluster analysis using the SSR and EST-SSR information divided the 11 wheat genotypes into three groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Salt tolerance
• agronomic traits
• SSR markers
• EST-SSR markers
• wheat breeding

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Deanship of Scientific Research and RSSU at King Saud University for their technical support. Great appreciation is also owed to Prof. Shaalan, M.I., Prof. Motawei, M. and Dr El-Basyoni, I. for their suggestions and proofreading during the preparation of this manuscript.

Author contributions

Dr Adel A. ELShafei: overall management of the proposed research. Molecular markers analysis and Writing publication. Prof. Samy A. Afiah: Evaluation of wheat genotypes under salinity stress for agronomic traits. Prof. A.A. Al-Doss: Statistical analysis of all data. E. I. Ibrahim: sample collection, sample analysis, field and laboratory work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Adel Ahmed Elshafei http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6089-3398

Eid Ibrahim Ibrahim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5029-6386

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University through the research group project no. RGPVPP-161.

Notes on contributors

Adel Ahmed Elshafei

Dr Adel Ahmed Elshafei works as an assistant professor in the Department of Genetic and Cytology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Division, National Research Center (NRC). He obtained his PhD in 2008 in Crop Science Department, for the Title ‘Identification of Molecular Markers Linked to Northern Corn Leaf Blight Resistance in Maize’. He obtained his BSc in 1989 and MSc in 2002 from the same department. He is a faculty of agriculture in Alexandria. His master thesis in in vitro selection studies for drought tolerance in rice. Furthermore, his PhD thesis was the best in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology from the National Research Center (NRC) Egypt, 2009. His research interest includes plant breeding. He has published about 28 research studies in international journals.

Samy Abd El-Aziz Afiah

Dr Samy Abd El-Aziz Afiah currently works as a professor in Genetic Resources Department, Desert Research Center, El Matareya, Cairo, Egypt. He obtained his PhD in 1991 from Zagazig University. He obtained MSc and BSc in 1981 and 1975, respectively from Ain Shams University, Department of genetics. Dr Afiah's research interest includes crop breeding under different environment conditions.

Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Doss

Dr Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Doss is a professor of plant breeding and genetics and a faculty in King Saud university. He obtained his PhD and MSc from University of Arizona, USA in 1993 and 1989, respectively. Also, he obtained his BSc from King Saud University in 1985. His research interests include the use of molecular markers for identification of favorable genes, conservation and enhancement of plant genetic resources of field crops, breeding of grain and forage crops and seed production and seed quality assurance.

Eid Ibrahim Ibrahim

Mr Eid Ibrahim Ibrahim holds a BSc in Genetics from Alexandria University, Egypt (2007) and an MSc in Biotechnology from King Saud University (2014). He is currently a Researcher at Faculty of Food and Agriculture Science, KSU, Saudi Arabia. His research now focuses on the Application of New Biotechnology Tools Improving Wheat and Barley Breeding.