Pedigree and SSR Data Analysis Reveal Dominant Prevalence of Few Parents in Pedigrees of Pakistani Wheat Varieties

The international recognition of the importance of genetic diversity demands continuous estimation of genetic diversity of in hand population as test of its buffering capacity against all putative threats. Randomly selected Pakistani wheat varieties developed during 1965-1999 and 2000-2011 were evaluated on the basis of pedigree and SSR data. At 2nd and 3rd levels of pedigree, average occurrence of a parent per variety was 2.1 times. The dominating parents included BLUEBIRD, KALYANSONA and SIETE-CERROS-66, which were present in the pedigrees of 71.42%, 64.28%, and 58.57% varieties, respectively. The varieties INQLAB-91 and KIRAN-95 had the same pedigree and were genetically identical as revealed by SSR data. Similarly, varieties PAVON-76 and SOGHAT-90 also had the same parents in their pedigrees. This genetic similarity was also confirmed by SSR based cluster. The SSR based PC1 and PC2 showed narrow genetic diversity confirming the presence of few dominating parents. The results emphasize the inclusion of novel and genetically diverse parents in Pakistani wheat breeding programs to maintain broader genetic base of varieties/cultivars for buffering the effects of ever changing virulent pathogens and crop growth environments.