Assessing Genetic Diversity of Wheat Genotypes from Different Origins by SNP Markers

Genetic diversity was investigated in a set of eleven hexaploid wheat genotypes originated from CIMMYT, Turkey in comparison with some modern European mostly originated from KWS wheat breeding program using 24 wheat SNP markers. The lowest and highest genetic dissimilarities were observed between genotypes Opus and LDO 330/06, KWS Salix and LDO 330/06, respectively. Based on cluster analysis, 38 wheat genotypes were grouped in two main clusters. Although the grouping pattern is very origin heterogeneous in each group, the grouping pattern of some genotypes appeared to be associated, to some extent. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was used as an alternative way of visualizing the genotypic data. The first, second and third principal components explained 17.79%, 14.39% and 12.24% of the variation, respectively. This study can also be an indicator for breeders to evolve genotypes with diverse genetic background to achieve sustainability in wheat production, to get favorable heterotic combinations in a wheat improvement program.