Genetic Linkage Map of Anatolian Durum Wheat Derived from a Cross of Kunduru-1149 × Cham1

Abstract

Until now, only a few genetic and physical maps had been constructed for durum wheat, mostly from the gene pools of only few geographic regions. The Fertile Crescent, particularly southeastern Turkey, is thought to be the primary center of wheat domestication and diversity. In spite of the importance of the genetic diversity from this area, a severe lack of information on the genetic structure of the durum wheat gene pool from this region is evident. For example, thus far, no efforts have been made to understand the genetic structure of the Anatolian durum wheat gene pool, despite its importance in durum wheat breeding. This study aimed to provide a new insight into the genetic structure of the durum wheat from Anatolia. The present study represents the first genetic linkage map of durum wheat from Anatolia, containing one famous Turkish local cultivar Kunduru-1149. The genetic linkage map was constructed using a population of 141 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the Turkish cultivar Kunduru-1149 and ICARDA cultivar Cham1. Linkage analysis resulted in a final linkage map spanning 4853.8 cM, which comprised 395 polymorphic marker loci (213 simple sequence repeats [SSRs], 146 amplified fragment length polymorphisms [AFLPs], and 36 seed storage proteins [SSPs]). The detected loci were distributed over 15 linkage groups on 14 whole chromosomes of durum wheat. Most of the markers (70.7 %) used in this map segregated according to Mendelian laws. This linkage map represents a key starting point toward understanding the genome structure of Anatolian durum wheat to genetically evaluate important agromorphological and qualitative characteristics.