Berrezoug Mohamed Adel
Abou Bekr Belkaid University, Algeria
Abstract Title:
Unveiling the genetic footprint of drought tolerance: high SSR polymorphism and population structure in saharan bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) accessionsBiography:
Mohamed Adel Berrezoug is a Doctoral Researcher in Agronomy at Abou Bekr Belkaid University, Tlemcen, Algeria, specializing in Crop Production and Plant Breeding. Affiliated with the “AFTAGRO” Laboratory, his research focuses on molecular characterization and cereal tolerance to drought stress. He recently completed a research fellowship at the National Gene Bank of Tunisia. He has served as a graduate teaching assistant in soil biology, soil physics, and field crops, and contributed to a local agricultural commission for cereal monitoring. He has published peer-reviewed research on wheat genetic diversity and abiotic stress tolerance.
Research Interests:
The hyper-arid Algerian Sahara harbors a unique genetic footprint of drought tolerance within its traditional bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm. These local accessions, having evolved under extreme environmental constraints, represent an invaluable yet underexploited reservoir of adaptive traits for modern breeding programs facing global climate change. This study investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of 16 bread wheat accessions collected from the deeply arid Adrar and Tamanrasset regions. Genotyping via 13 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers identified a total of 72 alleles (mean of 5.54 alleles per locus). Notably, the locus GWM174 exhibited an exceptionally high level of polymorphism, representing a prominent feature of this genetic diversity. The indices confirmed a substantial level of variability (mean PIC = 0.57, He = 0.573, Ho = 0.271). Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) demonstrated that most genetic variation resided among individuals (56%) and within individuals (32%), with a significant 12% indicating genetic differentiation between the two geographic origins. Furthermore, Bayesian clustering and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) consistently identified two distinct genetic pools strongly aligned with the geographic provenance of the accessions. These findings highlight a distinct genetic signature of arid-zone adaptation. However, the drought tolerance potential inferred from this molecular characterization remains to be validated. Future research will focus on confirming these findings through rigorous field evaluations, applying different controlled water regimes to conclusively link this genetic polymorphism to physiological drought resilience.