Characterisation of Genetic Diversity in Wheat Landraces

Domestication of wheat changed the history of human in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 BC. The brittle rachis trait of wild wheat forms (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides Kornick., Triticum monococcum ssp. aegilopoides) evolved to non-brittle rachis of domesticated primitive wheat forms (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccon Schrank Thell., Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum). Triticum monococcum and Triticum dicoccon were the most popular crops until the early Bronze Age. After domestication process, domesticated wheat varieties started to be cultivated by traditional farmers, and the seeds have been sown for thousands of generations since then and they are called wheat landraces today. Although traditional farmers did not apply formal breeding programmes, natural selection in the environment and farmers’ personal interests on the wheat varieties they grew shaped the genetic structure of landraces. Landraces have enormous amount of genetic diversity covering unique genotypes enhancing their adaptability to different environmental conditions particularly extreme conditions in remote mountainous places. In the last century, wheat breeding studies started and the new wheat varieties, which have high yield and adapted to specific environmental conditions, were developed and replaced the landraces. The wheat landraces germplasm has lost 75% of their genetic diversity. Therefore, the extent of variability and characterisation and partition of genetic diversity within local germplasm collections in terms of morphological, phenological and agronomic traits, proteins, enzymes and molecular aspects are important criteria to determine the status of wheat landraces particularly for future interests of their uses and for the improvement and the efficient genetic diversity maintenance and utilisation of plant species.