S02 - Session P3 - First assessment of wild Triticum and Aegilops in Hermon mountain, Lebanon

Authors: Lamis Chalak *, Nicole Ghossain, Safaa Baydoun, Mariana Yazbek

Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) are an important source of plant genetic diversity, and they constitute a vital resource in the efforts to globally secure food supply for mankind through improved agricultural production. Agromorphological description of CWR is an important requirement for their efficient utilization in breeding programs. In this study, we aimed to survey Mount Hermon, Lebanon to collect wheat wild relatives and submitting them to a morphological characterization prior to their conservation at ICARDA international genebank. A set of 33 Triticum and Aegilops accessions were collected consisting of 12 T. dicoccoides , two T. urartu , seven A. ovata , six A. biuncialis , one A. cylandrica , three A. triuncialis and two A. columnaris . These accessions were first multiplied in open field, then assessed through previously developed qualitative and quantitative morphological descriptors related to the leaf, the spike, the seed yield in addition to phonological stages. PCA Biplot as well as Hierarchical Clustering Analysis revealed a diversity among the studied Triticum accessions, with three main clusters, even though we have only two species. Aegilops accessions clustered almost according to the species appurtenance, within a same cluster or subcluster at the considered dissimilarity distance. The 33 accessions collected from Mount Hermon and assessed at the phenotypical level are all conserved at ICARDA genebank. The relationships among accessions herein displayed will be further confirmed by the application of molecular markers. The accessions will also be further characterized for their tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stresses before being shared with the national and/or international breeding programmers. This is a LIA O-LiFE contribution numberP 2021/1.