Introduction: WHEAT is one of the most important and strategic products and is the most valuable food for the people of the world, especially the Third World countries. WHEAT farms in arid and semiarid regions in rainfed conditions are generally exposed to drought stress at the germination, emergence and the late stages of the growing season. The effects of PEG simulated osmotic stress on morphological traits, such as root and stem length, fresh and dry weight of root and stem have been studied in a large number of previous studies. This research was conducted to investigate the effect of osmotic stress on morphological characteristics of advanced DURUM WHEAT lines and to classify the studied lines in terms of osmotic stress tolerance and to identify the susceptible and tolerant lines. Materials and methods: In order to study the effect of osmotic stress in DURUM WHEAT lines, 83 lines were evaluated at two levels including zero (control) and-4 bar osmotic potential. The experiment was done in tow condition based on completely randomized design with four replications. Polyethylene glycol 6000 was used to create-4 bar osmotic potential. The lines were cultivated in plastic pots with 10 cm diameter and 50 cm height that filled with sand. Irrigation of all pots until germination of seeds was done by normal water. After germination stage, control pots irrigated with Hogland solution and under stress pots irrigated with Hogland solution contain PEG6000. The Measurement of morphological traits included root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight of root and shoot, root volume and root area was done one month after applying stress and Ti and SIIG indices were calculated based on these traits. After calculating the Ti index for the studied lines and obtaining the highest and lowest tolerance index for each trait, they were used to calculate the distance of each line from the positive ideal genotype (d +) and the ideal negative genotype (-d). In addition to using the SIIG index in this analysis, the grouping of the studied lines was done using cluster analysis using Ward method. This grouping was performed by applying the average of the lines for Ti index and the results of cluster analysis were compared with the results of the SIIG index. Statistical analysis of data was done using SPSS16 software and comparison of averages was done with Duncan's test at a probability level of 1%. Results and discussion: The results of variance analysis of Ti showed that the lines had a significant difference in all traits at 1% probability level. Based on the results of the comparison of the average of DURUM WHEAT lines in terms of the Ti indices calculated from the traits, in most traits, the lines 9, 26, 34, 40 and 53 the lines had the highest value of Ti index and the lines 22, 29, 51, 77 and 79 were the lines with the lowest value of Ti index. The high level of this index on each line indicates the high tolerance of these lines to osmotic stress. The results of line rating using SIIG method showed that lines 9, 16, 24, 25, 26, 34, 35, 38, 53 and 64 had the highest SIIG in comparison with other lines and these lines were identified as the most tolerated ones to osmotic stress. Lines 22, 29, 30, 51, 52, 61, 73, 77, 79 and 82 were ten lines with the least amount of SIIG and were the most sensitive lines to osmotic stress. Conclusion: Based on the indices of Ti, lines 34, 9, 53, 26, 40, 16, 64, 7 have a high average and lines 29, 77, 22, 30, 51, 13, 79 have the low average of the traits. According to the SIIG index, the lines 34. 9, 53, 26, 16, 64, 38, 25, 35, 24 were in the high average group and the lines 61, 52, 51, 30, 82, 73, 79, 77, 29, 22 were in the low average group. These results were also obtained in cluster analysis, and the results of this grouping were highly consistent with the results of the lines' ranking using the SIIG index. This shows that the SIIG index helps the researcher to sum up the results of different indices. In general, it can be presented that in this study, the lines 9, 34, 53, 26, 16, 64, 38, 25, 35, 24 were tolerant lines and the lines 61, 52, 51, 30, 82, 73, 79, 77, 29, 22 were susceptible ones to osmotic stress.

Fusarium Head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum known as a destructive disease of WHEAT has a significant impact not only on global WHEAT production, but also on food safety because of grain contamination with mycotoxins during infection, a serious threat to the human and animals’ health. To achieve to non-chemical control of FHB, the study of molecular mechanism of resistance to FHB in WHEAT varieties is important. In this research, in order to investigate the effect of FHB on spike proteome pattern, six bread and DURUM WHEAT cultivars were inoculated in a greenhouse with F. graminearum. In addition to measuring the morphological traits, 14 days after inoculation, changes in their proteome pattern were investigated. Two-dimensional electrophoresis technique was used to study the response of WHEAT spike to Fusarium. Protein extraction was performed by TCAacetone method and two-dimensional electrophoresis was performed in the first dimension by strip gel method and in the second dimension was performed by using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel. The results of gel analyses showed that out of 57 repeatedly found protein spots, 13 protein spots had a significant difference between treatments, among which 11 protein spots, showed increased expression and two protein spots showed reduced expression. Proteins with changes in expression based on biological function were categorized in different groups that proteins involved in the metabolic pathways which involved in infected plants (Hypothetical protein and PR proteins) had the highest contribution to proteins with significant changes. The results of this study can be used in WHEAT breeding programs.

Introduction: WHEAT, bread and DURUM, is most important crop of Iran and DURUM WHEAT has a historical cultivation background in country. Pasta and macaronis industries of country need 400000 ton of DURUM annually. To cover this tonnage, releasing and introducing new and high yielding DURUM cultivar to WHEAT growers is crucial. On other hand, drought stress, especially terminal drought stress, TDS, is one of the most important factors affecting cultivation of WHEAT in various environments (Kilic and Yagbasanlar, 2010) and usually happened during filling period in Mediterranean countries (Golabadi et al., 2006). Totally, drought resistance is an erratic and complex trait and its effects depend on growth stage of crop. Lack of drought tolerance cultivars plus drought periods during WHEAT growing season are main reasons of Iran WHEAT production fluctuation. Drought resistance indices widely used by scientist to screening and selection drought tolerate WHEAT genotypes (Bennani et. al., 2017). So to combating these hazard and mitigate effects of water shortage and drought stress on DURUM WHEAT production, identifying and releasing new terminal drought tolerate DURUM WHEAT cultivars, present study was conducted. Material and methods: The154 DURUM WHEAT lines originated from International Maize and WHEAT Improvement Center (CIMMYT) plus Syrian4 (Saji) cultivar as DURUM check were investigated under normal irrigation and TDS conditions at Islamabad Agricultural Research Station over 2013-14 and 2014-15 cropping period. Each plot consisted of 2 rows, 2 m length with 0. 3m inter row spaces. Cropping density was 450 seed per m2. Sowing was done by hand. Irrigation cut at boating stage (Z = 4. 5) of crop. The grain yield, GY, (Kg/ha) of two years was used to calculating 21 drought tolerance indices namely MP, TOL, SSI, STI, GMP, YI, DI, ATI, SSPI, SNPI, MRP, REI, MSTIk1, MSTIk2, HARM, Red, RDI, GM, DTE. The SPSS software was used for cluster analysis and drawing of bipolot. Result and discussion: High variation was observed among the studied lines for GY and drought resistance indices. The cluster analysis by using UPGMA method and square of Euclidean distance, sorted evaluated lines in 6 groups. According to most drought resistance indices and the performance in both environments, the 12 genotypes namely g29, g38, g41, g46, g50, g93, g105, g116, g123, g157, g159 and g199 located at first group and showed remarkable advantages over other groups. The results of the analysis of the main components indicated that g116, g199, g41 and g123 lines were the best genotypes for TDS, which showed good performance under irrigated conditions also. On the other hand, the g50, g46 and g38 lines were the best ones for optimal conditions that showed TDS resistance also. The g29 and g157 lines were among superior lines with less resistance to TDS suitable for optimal conditions, whereas g105, g93 and g159 lines were relatively resistance to TDS with low yield under normal irrigation. Totally four genotypes, g41 (STORLOM/3/RASCON_37/TARRO_2//RASCON_37/4/ D00003A… ), g116 (SIMETO/4/DUKEM_1//PATKA_7/YAZI_1/3/PATKA_7/YAZI_1… ) g123 (ADAMAR _15/PLATA_18/3/SORA/2*PLATA_12//SOMAT_3/6/LIRO… ) and g199 (PLATA_10/6/MQUE/4/ USDA573//QFN/AA_7/3/ALBA-D… ), with emphasis on g116 lines, showed potential to mention as candidates to releasing as new cultivars, recommending and presenting to WHEAT growers of TDS conditions of area of study and similar condition.

Six advanced DURUM WHEAT lines with different levels of resistance to Russian WHEAT aphid (RWA) were crossed in half-diallel method. Seedlings of F1 and their parents were grown in greenhouse and artificially infected with RWA. Analysis of variance and diallel analysis using Griffing, and Jinks and Hayman methods were performed for leaf rolling and chlorosis (percentage of leaf rolling and chlorosis) traits. General and specific combining abilities for resistance to Russian WHEAT Aphid were significant for both traits indicating the role of additive and non-additive gene effects in controlling these traits. Jinks and Hayman analysis revealed higher additive gene effect as compared to non-additive gene effects. Non-additive gene effects were of partial dominance type for both traits. Less leaf rolling and chlorosis (greater resistance) were under control of recessive and dominant alleles, respectively. Broad and narrow sense heritability for resistance to RWA based on leaf chlorosis damage were 58 and 45 percent and for leaf rolling were 86 and 62 percent, respectively implying potential for improving resistance to RWA based on leaf rolling as compared to leaf chlorosis trait.

To evaluate DURUM pasta quality traits, using international standards, a study was conducted on seven improved and local DURUM WHEAT varieties. The traits examined included grain vitreousity (I.CC. No. 129), grain hardness index (h.i.), yellow berry (y.b.(, black point (h.p.), hectoliter weight (h.l.w.), thousand kerne! weight (t.k-w.j, protein percentage (I.CC. No. 105.1), protein quality through sedimentation tests (I.CC. No. 116), and wet gluten percentage. DURUM WHEAT gluten quality can be used to detect varieties with favorable traits for pasta making: some of these traits being: semolina percentage, pigment content, reaction to cooking and pasta disk pressure tolerance. The varieties Zardak from Kermanshah, Altar 84 from Ahwaz and Yavaros 79 from Karaj exhibited the most favorable pasta quality traits. There existed significant positive correlations (at 1% level) between protein percentage and sedimentation test, wet gluten percentage and protein, wet gluten and sedimentation test, and protein percent and dry gluten. The results indicated that protein percentage of DURUM WHEAT varieties can be used to select varieties of favorable quality for pasta making.

Sixty DURUM WHEAT genotypes selected from previous evaluation of National Plant Gene Bank of Iran and Cereal Department Collection comprises of local DURUM WHEAT and some cultivars from other countries, were studied. The genotypes were evaluated along with nine DURUM checks for agronomic traits in an augmented design experiment during 2009-2010 cropping season at Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran. Each genotype was planted in six rows of 3m long. The checks were repeated four times among the rows, randomly. The recorded traits were adjusted based on the model of the design. Descriptive analysis of data showed presence of a vast genetic variability among the genotypes for the recorded traits. Correlation analysis among the traits revealed positive correlation between grain yield and grain number per spike (r=0.32**), and grain weight per spike(r=0.38**), whereas its correlation with plant height (r=-0.53**) and length of peduncle(r=-0.42**) was negative. By stepwise regression analysis plant height and date to heading remained in the final model. Factor analysis using principal components, identified 3 factors which covered 67% of total variation in the samples. Plant height, and yield components were present in the factors. Cluster analysis using Ward method grouped the genotypes in six clusters. Fifteen genotypes out yielded the mean of all checks, however only four were superior to the highest yielding checks, i.e. genotypes Nos. 3 (Wc-46198, with 9789 kgha-1), 11(Wc-46031, a Japanese variety with 9927 kgha-1), 10 (Wc-46043, a Japanese variety with 10066 kgha-1), and 55 (P.S.No22, with 10273 kgha-1) which were considered as the best and selected for further evaluations.

DURUM WHEAT is the second most important crop of WHEAT and the tenth most important crop in the world, which includes about 6% of the area under WHEAT cultivation and its annual production is between 37-40 million tons. Countries with Mediterranean climates are the largest producers of DURUM WHEAT and the largest consumers of DURUM WHEAT products. Historically, DURUM WHEAT is well adapted to a dry area with variable precipitation rates and terminal heat stress, such as the Mediterranean basin. In fact, the countries of the Mediterranean basin (Algeria, Turkey, Italy, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, France, Spain, and Greece) account for almost 50% of the world's cultivated area and production of DURUM WHEAT. Outside this basin, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and India are the largest producers of DURUM WHEAT, respectively. DURUM WHEAT is genetically, morphologically, and physiologically different from bread WHEAT, and in terms of chemical compounds, its amount of protein, minerals, vitamins, and carotenoid pigments is higher than bread WHEAT. DURUM WHEAT with hard vitreous and yellow grains, in addition to providing an important source of energy, possessing a wide range of minerals and vitamins, protein and gluten, beta-carotene pigment (antioxidants and anti-cancer compounds) as well as simple carbohydrates, minerals, and other nutrients compounds that are essential in the human diet. DURUM WHEAT is one of the most important foods with a high percentage of protein (12-14% and sometimes up to 22%) compared to rice (7%) and bread WHEAT (10 to 12%). In DURUM WHEAT, the amount of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper is much higher than the amount of these elements in bread WHEAT and brown and white rice. The high content of these elements in DURUM WHEAT grain indicates the importance of the nutritional value of this product compared to the mentioned products that provide a major part of the consumer's food basket. In addition to semolina, which is used in the preparation of paste products such as macaroni and spaghetti, lasagna, noodle, etc., DURUM WHEAT is used in the making of other products such as bulgur, couscous, freekeh, DURUM WHEAT bread, etc. In this review article, the aim is to study the geographical distribution and production of DURUM WHEAT in different regions of the world, to introduce the nutritional value of the products and their products and their preparation, as well as to study the economic value of this valuable product. Moreover, new-released DURUM WHEAT cultivars with appropriate agronomic characteristics will be introduced.

Introduction: Knowledge of genetic diversity in crop species can play an important role in exploiting genetic diversity and lead to the development and expansion of crop cultivation in drought-prone environments. In this regard, identifying and utilizing informative markers related to agro-physiological traits will be necessary for application in breeding programs and marker-assisted selection.Materials and methods: This study was performed to investigate the relationship between SCoT markers and agro-physiological traits in the DURUM WHEAT breeding germplasm. For this purpose, 220 DURUM WHEAT genotypes were evaluated for agronomic, phenological, and physiological traits. They were received from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and International Maize and WHEAT Improvement Center (CIMMYT) during two consecutive cropping seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19). The germplasm was also genotyped using five SCoT markers. In order to identify the informative markers related to each trait, the regression analysis method was used.Results: According to the results, considerable variation for agro-physiological traits was observed in the studied germplasm. The majority of ICARDA germplasms that most favored by grain yield, 1000-kernel weight (TKW), normal difference vegetative index (NDVI), plant height (PH), and peduncle length (PL) well separated from the majority of CIMMYT germplasm that most favored late in the heading (DH) and maturity (DM) and higher canopy temperature (CT). These findings indicate that the breeding lines originally developed from ICARDA might possess traits of tolerance to drought conditions absent in those developed in CIMMYT. 13 SCoT loci were associated with at least three traits based on trait-marker association analysis. These markers would enhance the efficiency of parental selection in the DURUM WHEAT breeding programs. Six informative SCoT loci (SCoT16-845, SCoT16-965, SCoT33-780, SCoT24-1400, SCoT16-845, and SCoT25-680) were identified as repeatable markers that can be considered as candidate markers for assessment of other WHEAT germplasm collections and scanning the genome for the related traits.Conclusion: This study based on phenotypic data and SCoT markers revealed a high level of diversity in DURUM WHEAT breeding germplasm that may be useful in breeding programs. This information is valuable for germplasm grouping and determination of different phenotypic and genotypic groups, developing high-yielding genotypes, and using cross-breeding programs.