GENETIC MARKERS FOR GRAIN PROTEIN PERCENTAGE IN EGYPTIAN WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to study the genetic relationships and similarity among four wheat genotypes (two local cultivars, namely Giza-168 and Sakha-69 and two recombinant inbred lines one with low grain protein percentage "GPP" and the other with high grain protein percentage. Amplifications using five primers produced RAPD fingerprints with varying numbers of bands which ranged in size from 196 bp to 2519bp.The number of amplified DNA fragments per primer ranged from 4 to 10 with a mean of 8.6 bp. The primers have amplified 43 bands, out of which 33 bands (76.7%) were polymorphic. Twenty RAPD markers were found to be genotype specific with eight being specific for the low GPP line, six markers for the high GPP line, four markers for Giza-168 and two markers for Sakha-69. The mean genetic similarity among the four genotypes was 0.714 ranging from 0.656 to 0.829. The genetic relationships among the four genotypes estimated by UPGMA cluster analysis based on the RAPDderived data indicated that a relatively small number of RAPD primers could be used for distinguishing wheat genotypes according to protein percentage. The results suggested that identification of RAPD molecular markers associated with genes influencing GPP would allow wheat breeders in Egypt to select for GPP independent of enviro-nmental effects.