Research Projects

Indian dwarf wheat, a landrace native to western India and southern Pakistan, has been farmed since the Bronze Age and has been a significant contributor to Indian culture. It is known for its drought tolerance, enhanced phosphate uptake, and improved nitrogen accumulation in grains. It has more protein, iron, and zinc content than bread wheat. Genome-wide association studies (GWAs) can help understand the genetics underlying these traits. At IARI, 116 accessions of T. sphaerococcum and over 20 recently released bread wheat varieties have been genotyped using the 35 K Axiom™ Wheat Breeder's Genotyping sNP array. This project aims to identify the best nutritional grain quality accession(s) for breeding programs or as specialty trait genetic stock. Major effect QTLs identified from T. sphaerococcum will be used in marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARs). This is the first report of GWs studies in T. sphaerococcum, and if approved, novel information related to heat and drought tolerance and nutritional traits from this species is anticipated.