RAPD markers associated with drought tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) were used to search genetic diversity and markers associated with drought tolerance in 20 bread wheat cultivars. These cultivars are extensively being used by farmers in Iran, 6 of them are known as drought tolerant. Initial screens involved growing 10 cultivars at seedling stage under drought conditions (-5 and -8 bar) exerted by PEG 6000 in a hydroponic experiment. These tests confirmed the tolerance of the 6 above mentioned cultivars. Thirty 10-mer RAPD primers were used for fingerprinting of the cultivars of which primers P6 (TCGGCGGTTC) and P7 (CTGCATCGTG) produced respectively a 920 and a 750 bp band present in drought tolerant (absent in others) cultivars. These bands may be associated with drought tolerance in bread wheat.