Screening of Iranian Wheat (Triticum aestivum L) Land Races for Seedling Traits under Micronutrient Deficient Conditions

The experiment was conducted at experimental area of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The experiment on screening of Iranian wheat landraces for micronutrient deficiency was carried out. Method was performed for devising an efficient system for screening of Iranian wheat landraces for tolerance to micronutrient deficiency. A set of 202 Iranian wheat landraces along with checks (PBW 621, HD 2967, HD 3086, WH 1105, PDW 291 and TL 2908) were used. The experiment was carried out in glasses using sand culture. Seeds were cut from middle and embryo part was used for germination studies. Murashige and Skoog (MS) macro-salts nutrient solution was used to create micronutrient deficiency for 40 days. The observations on root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight were recorded after 40 days. The result based on frequency distribution was found to be approximately normal for all seedling traits under micronutrient deficiency. Genotype IR175 had maximum seedling length (72 cm) and minimum seedling length was recorded in IR187 (17 cm). Maximum seedling fresh weight was recorded in genotype IR26 (3.73 g) and IR125 was recorded minimum seedling fresh weight (0.12 g). Genotype IR26 had maximum seedling dry weight (0.60 g) and IR97 was recorded minimum seedling dry weight (0.04 g). Iranian landraces i.e. IR26, IR55, IR83, IR30, IR13, IR40, IR191, IR20, IR4, IR16 were found to be the best landraces tolerant to micronutrient deficiency on the basis of seedling dry weight.