Assessing the genetic variation and relationships present in crop germplasm is a pre-requisite for parental selection and breeding. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic relationships present among selected heat and drought tolerant wheat genotypes using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, agronomic traits and grain quality parameters to select desirable parents for breeding. Twenty-four agronomically selected wheat genotypes sourced from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT)’s heat and drought tolerance nursery and four local check varieties were genotyped using 12 selected polymorphic SSR markers. The test genotypes were phenotyped using yield and yield-component traits, and grain protein content (GPC) under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions. Expected heterozygosity mean value of 0.58 indicated moderate genetic diversity for breeding. The studied wheat genotypes were delineated into six genetic groups using cluster analysis. Significant genotypic differences were observed for agronomic traits and GPC under NS and DS conditions. Genetically unrelated breeding parents including LM02, LM13, LM23, LM41, LM44, LM71, LM73 and LM75 were selected for population development and breeding for enhanced grain yield and protein content under heat and drought-stressed environments.

评估作物种质中的遗传变异和相关性是父母选择和育种的先决条件。这项研究的目的是使用简单序列重复（SSR）标记，农艺性状和谷物质量参数来确定所选的耐高温和耐旱小麦基因型之间存在的遗传关系，以选择理想的育种亲本。从国际玉米和小麦改良中心（CIMMYT）的耐高温和耐旱苗圃中选出的24种在农艺上选择的小麦基因型，使用12种选择的多态SSR标记对4个当地检查品种进行了基因型分析。使用产量和产量构成特征以及非胁迫（NS）和干旱（DS）条件下的籽粒蛋白质含量（GPC）对表型进行测试。预期杂合度平均值为0.58，表明育种具有中等遗传多样性。使用聚类分析将研究的小麦基因型划分为六个基因组。在NS和DS条件下，观察到农艺性状和GPC的显着基因型差异。选择遗传无关的育种亲本，包括LM02，LM13，LM23，LM41，LM44，LM71，LM73和LM75进行种群发育和育种，以提高高温和干旱胁迫环境下的谷物产量和蛋白质含量。