Agro-morphological and biochemical characterization of Georgian common wheat (T. aestivum) – „Dolis puri” sub-varieties.

Wheat is one of the most important cereal grains in the world, which requires continuous yield and quality improvement. As one of the centers of wheat domestication, Georgia is distinguished by its diversity of local common wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties. Overall, there are 40 varieties of bread wheat described in Georgia and among them, „Dolis puri” sub-varieties are one of the oldest and widely distributed throughout the different regions and altitudes of Georgia. With the accelerated genetic erosion and loss of agricultural biodiversity worldwide, conservation and characterization of genetic diversity in regional breeding pools are very urgent and important steps for their preservation. In this study, we characterized and evaluated Georgian common wheat (T. aestivum) – „Dolis puri” local varieties kept in different genebanks to assess their remaining genetic diversity. Complete agro-morphological and biochemical characterization of each accession were performed during 2 years of regeneration, in field and laboratory conditions. Overall, 28 traits were measured in 115 common wheat accessions, and 69 of them were taxonomically identified as 9 local sub-varieties of Dolis puri. Selected accessions were studied on seed quality (biochemical) traits and classified in core-collections according to their traditional distribution regions. Among all studied sub-varieties, white Dolis Puri sub-varieties were revealed to have better spike morphology characteristics and overall higher grain yield. The Tsiteli (red) Dolis puri sub-varieties were distinguished with higher gluten content and better grain quality traits, compared to studied white Dolis Puri sub-varieties. According to characterization data, we revealed the real value of conserved samples and increased possibilities to improve their use in research, breeding and educational programs.