Microsatellite Markers Based Genetic Diversity Analysis for Salt Tolerance in Wheat Genotypes

Wheat genotypes (five Triticum aestivum, four T. durum, one T. diccocum) were studied for salt tolerance capacity [T₀ (control), T₁(50 mM NaCl), T₂(100 mM NaCl) and T₃(150 mM NaCl)] on the basis of physiological [relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI) and salt tolerant index (STI)] parameters and microsatellite markers. The physiological parameters were positively correlated with salt tolerant index (STI). The high STI was shown in four tolerant genotypes namely KH-65 (81.32), DDK-1025 (80.70), HI-8498 (80.00) and KRL-213 (81.24), respectively. The SSR analysis of the wheat genotypes was carried out with SSR primers using generated total of 74 alleles out of which 59 were polymorphic with an average of 4.21 alleles and 80.25% polymorphism per primer. The unique and genotype specific markers were obtained by four SSR primers. The salt tolerant DDK-1025 diagnosed with unique Xgwm-146₁₈₃ marker. The phylogenetic analysis of wheat genotypes showed Jaccard similarity coefficient in the range of 0.37 to 0.79. Clustering pattern of wheat genotype out grouped most tolerant KH-65 from other nine genotypes and shared minimum 37% similarity.