MOLECULAR MARKER ASSISTED SELECTION FOR DROUGHT TOLERANT WHEAT GENOTYPES

A diverse population was generated through induced mutation with an objective to develop drought tolerant wheat genotypes. Population was first accesses for genetic diversity through random amplified polymorphic DNA and then investigated for drought tolerant through sequence tagged sites technique. A total of 100 alleles were amplified with 15 random primers out of which 78 % were polymorphic and 22 % were monomorphic. Fragments size ranged from 198bp1.842kbp and fragments produced by various primers ranged from 2-13 with an average of 7.4 fragments per primer. Genetically most similar genotypes were SMP1 and KMP4 (95.2%) followed by TMP3 and TMP4 (94.9%) while most dissimilar genotypes were SMP5 and KMP2 (55.8%). On the basis of results achieved, the varieties could be divided into four clusters. Of eighteen, eleven genotypes amplify the DREB F1R1 fragment. Fourteen genotypes tagging the specific sites in the wheat genome with F2R2 and thirteen genotypes were amplified with F3R3 (DREB sequence). Wheat DNA amplification with DREB gene yields 190-220bp bands with F2R2 and F3R3 whereas F1R1 yields 1.9-3.0 kb.