Association analysis for drought tolerance indices in bread wheat using ISSR markers

Intersimple sequence repeat(ISSR) markers were evaluated in order to identify informative markers associated with drought tolerance indices  in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes . Eighteen ISSR primers amplified 92 loci among 20 bread wheat genotypes. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.46 (UBC-857, UBC-864, UBC-867, is9) to 0.21 (is7), with an average of 2.05. Stepwise regression analysis between molecular data as independent variables, and drought tolerance indices  as dependent variables was performed to identify informative markers associated with the studied traits. Plant Hight, Peduncle Length, Xteragen Length and Peroxidase Activity were explained by more primers. ISSR markers, UBC-867, is9, is11, is15 and is5 showed the most association with drought tolerance indices. Since all the used ISSR loci showed significant association with the studied traits, therefore, it is possible to use these markers along with drought tolerance indices in  drought tolerance wheat breeding programs for identification of suitable parents to parents to produce mapping populations and hybrid varieties.