Emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccon schrank (syn. T. dicoccum (schrank) schÜbl.), is one of the earliest domesticated crops, harboring a wide range of genetic diversity and agronomically valuable traits. The crop, however, is currently largely neglected. We provide a wealth of karyotypic information from a comprehensive collection of emmer wheat and related taxa. In addition to C-banding polymorphisms, we identified 43 variants of chromosomal rearrangements in T. dicoccon; among them 26 (60.4%) were novel. The T7A:5B translocation was most abundant in Western Europe and the Mediterranean. The plant genetic resources investigated here might become important in the future for wheat improvement. Based on cluster analysis four major karyotypic groups were discriminated within the T. dicoccon genepool, each harboring characteristic C-banding patterns and translocation spectra: the balkan, asian, european and ethiopian groups. We postulate four major diffusion routes of the crop and discuss their migration out of the Fertile Crescent considering latest archaeobotanical findings.

Replenishment of the collection of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), like any other crop collection held by VIR, is a permanent process aimed at expanding the geographic, morphological and agrobiological diversity of the crop’s gene pool. A special status in this process is given to the achievements of domestic breeders, whose cultivars and lines over time remain only in the ex situ collection and constitute the national heritage of Russia. Replenishment, along with conservation, studying and sharing with the users, is a mandatory task when managing a plant germplasm collection. It can be fulfilled by sending requests for seeds to other genebanks, through the exchange with the collections of foreign research centers, contacts with individual breeders or breeding centers in Russia, or when crop cultivars are submitted to VIR from the State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Utilization in Russia. Besides, new accessions are added to the genebank by collecting missions.Descriptions have been made for 570 accessions included in the main catalogue of VIR’s durum wheat collection from 2000 to 2019. They originated from 28 countries of Europe, Asia, the Near East, Africa and North America, and from 16 regions of Russia.The durum wheat collection of VIR was replenished with accessions interesting both from the geographic and agrobiological viewpoints. Cultivars developed by domestic breeders are included in the global genetic resources collection primarily with the purpose of their conservation and comprehensive utilization, both now and in the future.

Classifications of the genus Triticum L. differ in approaches to the number and content of both intrageneric and infraspecific taxa. According to the «GrainTax» System, an on‑line source of information on the taxonomy of wheat, there are currently 7 main classifications of the genus Triticum L. These include a classification developed at the Department of Wheat Genetic Resources of VIR, which is referred to as the “Classification of Triticum by Dorofeev et al.” This is the world’s first standardized system that contains all known infraspecific taxa of wild and cultivated wheat species. A detailed classification makes it possible to identify a wide variety of forms when working with the genus Triticum L. and its individual species, which is especially important for collections preserved in genetic seed banks. In accordance with this system, durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) is regarded as a species that includes two subspecies, 131 botanical varieties and 42 forms united into six groups and three subgroups of varieties. The basis of the infraspecific system is made up of botanical varieties with a definite complex of morphological traits of the spike and kernel. The present work contains descriptions of each botanical variety and photographs of most of them.

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The Wheat Genetic Resources Department of VIR treats Triticum durum Desf. as a separate species. It contains 2 subspecies: subsp. durum and subsp. horanicum. Subsp. horanicum Vav. shows the highest spike density. Subsp. durum -the durum wheat proper -is characterized by a major variation of spike density, grain size and form. The subspecies also has liguleless forms and those with strongly pubescent leaves. The subsp. durum is represented by 6 groups of botanical varieties (convarieties): durum, durocompactum, aglossicon, villosum, falcatum, and caucasicum. Convar. durum has three subconvarieties: durum, muticum and duroramosum. At the time of the development of the classification 121 botanical varieties were described within T. durum. They were identified by a combination of characteristics such as the presence or absence of pubescent straw under the spike, pubescent or glabrous glumes, the roughness of awns (smooth or rough), glume color (white, red, gray, smoked-grayish or black on white or red background), awn color (same color as that of glumes or black), kernel color (white, red or purple). The principle of selection of botanical varieties is based on the combination of a large number of signs, giving a large number of possible options. It is very likely that most of them are not found in nature, but the probability of finding a new botanical variety or the presence of various forms can be increased as the research of polymorphism in accessions of the durum wheat collection in different ecological and geographical conditions. The objects of research were about 6 000 accessions from the VIR durum wheat genetic collection, which had been grown in different ecological and geographical conditions during for 15 years. Identification of the accessions was carried out in accordance with the classification used by the Wheat GR department in its work with the collection. As a result of their own field research in ICARDA (Syria, Tel Hadya) and identification of accessions obtained after reproduction on the VIR experimental station, we have identified 10 new botanical varieties and 12 forms of T. durum to supplement the classification. For each of them the diagnosis is given, the type is defined, a herbarium (autotype) and photos are provided.Key words: durum wheat (Triticum durum); intraspecific classification; taxon; botanical varietas; forms of botanical varietas.В соответствии с системой рода Triticum L., разработанной в отделе генетических ресурсов пшеницы ВИР, твердая пшеница является самостоятельным видом Triticum durum Desf. Внутри вида рассмат-ривают два подвида: subsp. durum и subsp. horanicum. Подвид соб-ственно твердых пшениц (subsp. durum) дифференцирован на шесть групп разновидностей (convar.), в свою очередь convar. durum имеет в своем составе три подгруппы разновидностей (subconvar.). Ко времени создания классификации внутри вида T. durum Desf. насчитывалась 121 ботаническая разновидность. Они были вы-делены по сочетанию таких признаков, как «наличие/отсутствие опушения соломины под колосом», «опушенн...