Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), commonly known as pasta wheat, is a tetraploid species that plays a major role in the global human food supply after bread wheat. Among environmental stresses, salinity is one of the most detrimental abiotic factors, severely affecting wheat growth, development, and productivity. This study aimed to identify genomic regions associated with phenological, morphological, and physiological traits under normal and salinity stress conditions. A total of 121 durum wheat genotypes were evaluated using an augmented design under both normal and salinity stress conditions (electrical conductivity of 8.2 dS m⁻¹). The results revealed considerable genetic diversity among the evaluated genotypes for most measured traits. Association analysis between SNP markers and phenotypic traits identified 598 significant marker–trait associations under normal conditions, of which 101 markers were associated with more than one trait. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained (R²) by these markers ranged from 0.004% to 11.84%. Under salinity stress conditions, 503 significant marker–trait associations were detected, including 84 markers associated with multiple traits, with R² values ranging from 0.001% to 13.53%. In both environments, the majority of significant associations were located on the B genome. Comparative analysis of markers consistently associated with traits across both environments revealed 197 markers significantly associated with at least one trait under both normal and salinity stress conditions. Among these, 12 markers were associated with proline content (PRL), five with AWL, four with leaf length (LL), and two with biological yield (Bio) in both environments. Overall, the identified genotypes and associated markers provide valuable genetic resources for durum wheat breeding programs aimed at improving salinity tolerance and can be effectively utilized in marker‑assisted and genomic selection strategies.
Type of Study:
review |
Subject:
Subject 02 Received: 2025/09/6 | Accepted: 2025/10/6 | Published: 2026/02/3