SCREENING AND IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE TOLERANT ETHIOPIAN BREAD WHEAT CULTIVARS BASED ON TEMPERATURE INDUCTION RESPONSE TECHNIQUE
SUBOOT HAIRAT
Department of Biotechnology, Wachemo University, P.O.Box 667, Hosanna, Ethiopia.
MEHVASH ZAKI *
Department of Chemistry, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A total of 25 Ethiopian bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars were screened for the identification of thermo-tolerant and thermo-susceptible cultivars using Temperature Induction Response technique. Sixteen hour imbibed seedlings were exposed to an induction temperature of 37°C for 1.5h followed by exposure to 52°C for 3 h. The percentage survival, root length and shoot length were used to calculate the heat susceptibility index. On the basis of the heat susceptibility index, a thermo-tolerant cultivar BW174306 and a thermo-susceptible cultivar BW172583 were selected for further expression analysis of heat stress induced genes. The result highlighted the genetic variability among the different Ethiopian bread wheat cultivars both at the physiological as well as molecular level. This study highlight a fast and effective technique for the screening and identification of thermo-tolerant and thermo-susceptible Ethiopian bread wheat cultivars.
Keywords: Cultivars, induction temperature, lethal temperature, Triticum aestivum, temperature induction response