Identification of microsatellite markers associated with agronomic and morphological traits in wild einkorn wheat (Triticum boeoticum L.) populations

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between microsatellite markers and some agronomic and morphological traits in wild einkorn wheat populations collected from western parts of Iran. Plant materials included 163 wild einkorn wheat accessions selected from 664 samples collected from 34 regions in of Ilam, Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces. Seeds of selected accessions were grown in the field and the following agronomic and morphological traits were evaluated and scored in 2014-15 and 2015-16 cropping seasons: leaf length, leaf width, plant height, peduncle length, spike length, number of spikes.plant-1, number of grains.spike-1, 1000 grain weight, days to flowering, days to physiological maturity, grain yield and weight.plant-1. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among genotypes across two cropping seasons for most of the measured phenotypic traits. The genotypic evaluation was performed using 19 microsatellites (SSR) markers on the selected 163 accessions. According to the results of K statistics and two-dimensional graphics based on SSR markers, four possible sub-populations in the germplasm of wild einkorn wheat were identified. Eventually, association analysis was performed using the population structure matrix and statistical models of GLM and MLM. The results showed that based on the GLM and MLM models 87 SSR marker-trait relationships were highly significant. Also 89% markers played roles in identifying allelic locations on the chromosomes for 12 studied traits. In conclusion, the results of this study revealed that integrated uses of agronomic and morphological traits with SSR markers could be useful in evaluating of genetic diversity of wild einkorn wheat and is beneficial for identifing markers associated with important agronomic traits in breeding programs.