Evaluation and Comparison of Biochemical Characteristics in Different Aegilops tauschii Genotypes of Iran

The objective of this study was to evaluate some biochemical characteristics of fifty Iranian genotypes of Aegilops tauschii and Kohdasht cultivar which was used as a control. Eight important physiological characteristics that were related to crop yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress، was studied in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 replications in the University of Tehran in 2009. The results of ANOVA showed significant differences among genotypes in all characters. There was positive correlation between chlorophyll content and carotenoid، but the correlation among enzymes، carotenoid and chlorophyll content were not significant. There was significant correlation between protein and enzymes. Also، the negative correlation was detected between catalase and two other enzymes (proxidase and polyphenol oxidase)، but there was not any correlation between proxidase and polyphenol oxidase. Principal components analysis classified 8 primary variables in to 2 new components that explained 69. 3% of total variations. The first component explained 42% of total variations that mainly included chlorophyll content and carotenoid. The second component explained 26. 4% of total variations that mainly included protein and enzymes. Cluster analysis by UPGMA method classified characters in to 5 groups. The results showed that genotypes were significantly different in all characters; therefore، wild genotypes (especially genotypes with high values of these characters) can be used for transferring desirable traits (such as resistance to drought and salinity) to produce cultivars which are suitable for breeding programs.