Resources of high-protein genotypes in wild wheat, Triticum dicoccoides in Israel: Predictive method by ecology and allozyme markers

Geographic variation of protein and seed characters of wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides in Israel and the associations with ecological and allozyme markers were tested in an attempt to derive predictive optimal guidelines for conservation and utilization in breeding programmes. The study involved 46 genotypes of wild emmer from 5 populations in Israel, 2 central and 3 marginal. These populations were tested earlier for allozymic variation (Nevo et al., Theor. appl. Genet. 62: 241-254, 1982). The results indicate that protein percentage, kernel and protein weight (the product of the former two values), vary both within, but particularly between, populations. Notably, the 3 marginal populations exhibit high protein content but low kernel weight, hence low protein weight as compared with the 2 central populations which displayed lower protein percentage but high kernel weight, hence higher protein weight. Three-variable combinations of climatic factors explain R squared=0.70 of the variance in kernel weight and R squared=0.60 of the variance in protein weight. Likewise, 3-variable combinations of allozyme genotypes explained significantly the spatial variances in protein percentage, kernel and protein weight (R squared=0.60, 0.69 and 0.54, respectively). We conclude that natural populations of wild emmer in Israel contain large amounts of yet untapped genes for elite protein and high seed weight. These could be effectively screened and utilized for producing high quantity protein wheat cultivars by means of effectively following ecological and allozymic markers as predictive guidelines in screening natural populations of wild emmer wheat.