کیوان حسن پور - Department of Biotechnology, University Campus ۲, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
علی اعلمی - Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, P. O. Box: ۴۱۹۹۶-۱۳۷۷۶, Rasht, Iran.
رامین حسینی - Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resource, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
شهرام نعیمی - Department of Biological Control Research, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Eduction and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

Aegilops tauschii is one of the ancestors of bread wheat and is the main source of genes for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The present research was performed as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design to determine the effect of drought stress on some morphological traits in ۲۳ A. tauschii genotypes. Some important morphological and physiological traits were evaluated in the greenhouse conditions. The results showed that root length, the number of leaves and tillers, chlorophyll content, shoot and root fresh weight, shoot and root dry weight, percentage of yellow and rolled leaves at seedling stage and shoot and root dry weight, flag leaf, peduncle and spike length and the number of spikes at maturity stage increased in drought stress. Instead, RWC and shoot length were reduced at the seedling stage in the drought stress condition. In the seedling stage, the highest values obtained for root length, number of leaves, root fresh and dry weight, percentage of yellow and rolled leaves were ۴۴.۶۷ cm, ۲۴.۰۰, ۳.۳۵ g/plant, ۰.۴۰ g/plant, ۵۰% and ۸۰.۷۹% under drought condition, respectively. In the maturity stage, the highest values obtained for shoot and root dry weights were ۲۶.۵۸ and ۴۱.۷۷ g/plant obtained in genotypes KC-۵۵ and KC-۲۱۲۲ under drought condition. The highest values for flag leaf length, peduncle length, spike length and the number of spike were ۱۲.۳۰ cm, ۱۵.۶۵ cm, ۹.۰۸ cm and ۳۰ observed in genotypes KC-۲۱۲۳, KC-۲۲۲۵, KC-۲۱۱۵ and KC-۶۲۱ at control, respectively. Based on the ward’s cluster analysis, A. tauschii genotypes were divided into four different groups. The results of this study showed genotypes KC-۶۲۱, KC-۱۷۷۲ and KC-۲۲۲۵ were tolerant to drought stress and therefore, they are recommended for use in wheat breeding programs.

Aegilops tauschii, Maturity stage, Morphological traits, RWC, Seedling stage