Assessment of phenotypic variation in durum wheat breeding lines based on agronomic and grain morphological traits under rainfed condition

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Plant production and Genetics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

2 Cereal Research Center, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

3 Dryland Agricultural Research Institute, Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Kermanshah, Iran

4 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

10.22034/plant.2025.144670.1176

Abstract

Given the importance of knowledge of genetic diversity in advancing the goals of breeding programs, examining morphological characteristics that determine yield is one of the appropriate methods for achieving selection criteria for improving yield and introducing commercial varieties of durum wheat. In this study, 171 durum wheat genotypes, including 69 genotypes received from ICARDA and 100 genotypes received from CYMMIT, along with two durum wheat cultivars “Saji and Zahab” as checks, were evaluated in an observational experiment under rainfed conditions for grain yield, thousand-grain weight, and grain-related morphological characteristics during two consecutive cropping seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19). Based on the results, significant difference in grain yield and grain-related morphological characteristics was observed in the studied genotypes. The results showed that the first cropping season had a lower average grain yield and a higher thousand-grain weight than the second cropping season. The correlation pattern of traits and genotype grouping based on cluster analysis was somewhat similar in both years. The results of factor analysis showed that grain length, grain length and width, the distance between intersection of length and width and center of gravity explained a significant percentage of the variance among the studied durum wheat genotypes. A significant variation was observed for grain yield, thousand-kernel weight and grain-related morphological characteristics in the studied durum wheat germplasm, which can be considered in the durum wheat breeding program. The results can be used to identify genotypes with high yield and suitable grain characteristics in durum wheat germplasm.

Keywords

Plant Production and Genetics

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 15 May 2026

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