MONITORING OF Aegilops L. LOCAL SPECIES GENETIC DIVERSITY OF KAZAKHSTAN’S FLORA

Abstract

Cereal Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) are a very  important gene pool for cereal/wheat improvement. New genes for resistance to diseases and pests are urgently needed to avoid using pesticides and to raise adaptivity to the environmental stresses caused by global climate change. In this regard, the study is aimed at ex situ conservation of Aegilops L. genus local ecotypes’ genetic diversity, which is very relevant and promising for breeding. In order to establish breeding utility and form an ex situ collection reflecting the intra- and inter-specific diversity, the phenotypic screening of Kazakhstan’s local populations of Aegilops L. genus (Ae. cylindrica, Ae. tauschii, Ae. triuncialis and Ae. crassa) was conducted on the basis of multiple indicators. For the first time molecular-genetic analysis of 50 representatives of Aegilops L. genus from Kazakhstan’s flora was performed. The microsatellite analysis with the use of 11 EST-SSR markers revealed eight of them to be most effective. For each marker, allele frequency and average heterozygosity was calculated. For the most informative markers the presence of 5 and 6 respective allelic variations was found. A bank of genomic DNA was created and kept in ex situ storage (–70 °С, long-term) in the IMBB of the MES of RK.