To evaluate the genetic diversity in 48 winter bread wheat genotypes originating from different countries, an experiment based on randomized complete block design with 4 replications was carried out in drip irrigation and rain-fed conditions at the field station of the Transitional Zone Agricultural Research Institute, Eskişehir, Turkey in 2011 and 2012. Based on grain yield under rain-fed and irrigated conditions, drought tolerance indices, i.e. stress susceptibility index (SSI), stress tolerance index (STI), tolerance index (TOL), mean productivity (MP), and geometric mean productivity (GMP), were calculated to identify genotypes with better yield and drought tolerance. Analysis of variance indicated that there were highly significant differences among the genotypes with regard to all the traits under the two experimental conditions. The correlation coefficients showed that STI, MP, and GMP were the most desirable selection criteria for high yielding and drought tolerant genotypes. Based on principle component analysis and biplot, genotypes numbered as 6, 11, 26, 41, 45, and 47 were susceptible genotypes. The genotypes numbered as 4, 12, 17, 24, 27, 28, 34, 35, 36, 38, and 42 were more stable under rain-fed conditions, while genotypes numbered as 9, 29, 31, and 44 were highly adapted to the irrigated conditions. Cluster analysis classified the genotypes into 3 groups: resistant, susceptible, and tolerant to drought conditions. In conclusion, this study showed that drought stress reduced the yield of some genotypes, while others were tolerant to drought, suggesting genetic variability of drought tolerance in this material. Therefore, breeders can select stress-resistant wheat genotypes based on the MP, GMP, and STI indices.

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used for comparative analysis of genetic variation in 42 sugar beet accessions. A total of 24 polymorphic primers (12 RAPD and 12 ISSR) were used. The RAPD primers generated 204 amplification products and the ISSR primers produced 178 fragments, 190 and 173 of which were polymorphic, respectively. The average polymorphism level with the ISSR markers (97.2%) was higher than that with the RAPD primers (93%). High genetic diversity indices for both marker types (0.86 for RAPD and 0.91 for ISSR) suggested that these methods were equally effective in determining genetic variation in sugar beet accessions. Cluster analysis of the RAPD, ISSR, and combined datasets revealed similar grouping patterns. However, the dendrogram created from analysis of the combined RAPD+ISSR data was more similar to the RAPDonly dendrogram than the ISSR-only analysis, indicating that RAPD could determine genetic diversity with higher resolution than ISSR in the cultivars tested. High correlation between the RAPD and ISSR marker systems was shown using a Mantel test (r = 0.92). Screening a higher number of anonymous loci in sugar beet using these molecular markers will enable the selection of the best parent cultivars for the development of novel varieties.

The genetic relationships among 48 melon (Cucumis melo L.) genotypes collected from various parts of Azerbaijan were determined by comparing their phenotypic and molecular traits. Eleven agromorphological traits and 10 polymorphic inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers were used to define the genetic diversity. Principal component analysis grouped the agromorphological traits into the first four axes, describing 78% of the total variations. The highest genetic variation coefficient was found for yield per hectare (20.32%) and for fruit length (17.35%). Calculated heritability for yield was 0.96. The analysis of morphological traits grouped the accessions into four clusters. The 10 ISSR primers yielded 35 polymorphic alleles, representing 85.4% of all the amplified loci. The average genetic diversity index determined was 0.70. The highest and the lowest similarity indexes were equal to 0.97 and 0.36, respectively. The 48 accessions were grouped into 10 clusters based on ISSR markers. Correlation between distance matrices based on agromorphological traits and ISSR markers was not statistically significant (r = 0.012).

-The objective of this study was to identify gliadin band patterns and the extent of genetic diversity in durum wheat genotypes from Northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Gliadins from 46 landraces and four cultivars were evaluated through acid PAGE analyses. Sixty-six polymorphic bands and 81 patterns were identified. Twenty-four different motility bands and 22 patterns were found in the ω gliadin region with 14 polymorph bands and 20 patterns for α and γ gliadins, and 14 bands and 19 different patterns for β gliadins. The combination of these patterns generated 38 and 39 combinations for Gli-1 and Gli-2 loci, respectively. The genetic diversity index (H) was higher for α gliadins (0.924), followed by ω and γ gliadins (0.899 and 0.878, respectively), and for β gliadin patterns (0.866). Extensive polymorphism (H = 0.875) was observed in four gliadin pattern regions, with higher genetic diversity in the Iranian landraces than in the Azerbaijani ones. Each genotype had special identifying patterns in the gliadin acid PAGE analysis, and cluster analysis based on Jaccard's similarity coefficients formed six groups. Gliadin has a simple, repeatable and economic analysis, and can be used in genetic studies.

In order to determine the performance of synthetic wheat (Triticum turgidum × Aegilops squarrosa) lines under soil salinity stress conditions and to screen quantitative indices of salinity tolerance, 43 synthetic wheat lines from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Turkey were tested in a randomized complete block design in two replications under non-salinity (normal) and salinity stress conditions in Absheron and Ujar regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences among the wheat genotypes for all quantitative morphological traits studied. Salinity stress tolerance indices, including stress sensitivity index (SSI), tolerance index (TOL), mean productivity index (MPI), stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity index (GMPI) and harmonic mean index (HMI) were calculated according to the grain yield under non-salinity and salinity stress conditions. The correlation coefficients showed that GMPI, STI, MPI and HMI were the most desirable selection criteria for high yielding and soil salinity tolerant genotypes. The results of this experiment revealed that among the studied wheat genotypes lines Nos 16 and 27 were highly tolerant but produced low grain yield. Also, lines Nos 5, 29, 15, 28, 4, 25 and 24 had the highest tolerance to salinity stress and produced the highest grain yield in both (non-salinity and salinity stress) conditions. In conclusion, it was suggested that these wheat lines are suitable for salinity stress conditions and are appropriate for hybridization with the aim of increasing salinity tolerance.