Multivariate Analysis of Different Agronomic Traits of Iranian Germplasm of Bread Wheat

In order to study genetic variation and relationship between traits، 615 accessions of local bread wheat from wheat collection of National Plant Gene Bank of Iran were evaluated. Seeds of the accessions were planted in 2. 5 meter long rows in an observatory design and 17 agro-morphological traits were measured. Grain yield of 5 spikes، number of tillers and number of seeds per spike were of highest diversity among quantitative traits based on coefficient of variation. Among qualitative traits، glume color had the highest Shannon index. Two independent variables of number of seeds per spike and 100-seed weight were entered the model of stepwise regression determining 98% of grain yield of 5 spikes as dependent variable. The results of PCA indicated that the first five components comprised 63. 28% of the total variation in data. Based on coefficient of variables the components were designated as large seed size and high yield، yield components، biomass production، qualitative characteristics of spike and lodging resistance indices، respectively. The results of principlal component analysis distinguished accessions 200 (West Azarbayjan)، 763 (Gilan)، 835 (Lorestan) and 845، 846 (Isfahan، Both) as superior ones. The cluster analysis distinguished origins of the accessions in four groups. The result of this investigation showed a valuable variation in local wheat germplasm which could be exploited in breeding programs.