A. Pour-Aboughadareh - Department of Crop Production and Breeding, Imam Khomeini International University, P. O. Box. ۳۴۱۴۹- ۱۶۸۱۸, Qazvin, Islamic Republic of Iran.
J. Ahmadi - Department of Crop Production and Breeding, Imam Khomeini International University, P. O. Box. ۳۴۱۴۹- ۱۶۸۱۸, Qazvin, Islamic Republic of Iran.
A. Mehrabi - Department of Agronomy and Plant breeding, University of Ilam, Ilam, Islamic Republic of Iran.
M. Moghaddam - Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
A. Etminan - Department of Plant Breeding, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Islamic Republic of Iran.

In this study, a core collection of ۱۸۰ Aegilops and Triticum accessions belonging to six diploid (T. boeoticum Bioss., T. urartu Gandilyan., Ae. speltoides Tausch., Ae. tauschii Coss., Ae. caudata L. and Ae. umbellulata Zhuk.), five tetraploid (T. durum, Ae. neglecta Req. ex Bertol., Ae. cylindrica Host. and Ae. crassa Boiss) and one hexaploid (T. aestivum L.) species collected from different regions of Iran were evaluated using ۲۰ agro-morphological characters. Statistical analysis showed significant differences among accessions. The Shannon-Weaver (HʹSW) and Nei’s (HʹN) genetic diversity indices disclosed intermediate to high diversity for most characters in both Aegilops and Triticum core sets. In factor analysis, the first five components justified ۸۲.۱۷% of the total of agro-morphological variation. Based on measured characters, the ۱۸۰ accessions were separated into two major groups by cluster analysis. Furthermore, based on the ۲D-plot generated using two discriminant functions, different species were separated into six groups, so that distribution of species accorded with their genome construction. Overall, our results revealed considerable levels of genetic diversity among studied Iranian Aegilops and Triticum accessions, which can open up new avenues for rethinking the connections between wild relatives to explore valuable agronomic traits for the improvement and adaptation of wheat.

Aegilops, multivariate analysis, Phenotypic diversity, Triticum