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In order to identify QTLs associated with stemlet and rootlet growth in the early stages of germination of wheat, 144 recombinant inbred lines derived from the cross of Kaz and Mantana were evaluated in a completely randomized design. The linkage map using composite interval by 234 microsatellite (SSR) primers and 267 AFLP loci have been already prepared in this population which covered 20 chromosomes of wheat. For root length, 1, 2 and 2 QTLs were located on 4D, 4B and 2D chromosomes, respectively. Two QTLs of rootlet length was located on 6B and 3D chromosomes. The QTLs of rootlet number were identified on 4A, 5A and 3B chromosomes. For each of stemlet dry weight (SDW) and rootlet dry weight (RDW) traits only one QTL identified on 4A and 3D chromosomes, respectively. Overall, for SDW to RDW ratio on 2D and 3D chromosomes, three QTLs were located. The QTLs of stemlet wet weight (SWW) were detected on 6B and 2B chromosomes. On 1B, 2D and 6B chromosoms, three QTLs were recognized for SWW to RWW ratio. For all traits, the range of LOD = 2.04-6.34 and R2 =5.11-19.58 were calculated. The highest amount of LOD and R2 (5.11 and 19.58, respectively) were obtained for rootlet length QTL (QSL-chpgu-4D). The least distance to the nearest adjacent marker (AFgcCGb marker) was 0.005 Centi-Morgan which belonged to rootlet length QTL (QRL-chpgu-3D) on 3D chromosome.

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Global food security is endanged by various factors, with one of the most significant being the quantitative and qualitative increase in agricultural production. Given the vital role of rice in the daily nutrition of Iranians and the necessity to enhance the efficiency of limited land resources, it is imperative to increase the yield per unit area. Identifying genotypes carrying alleles of genes associated with grain yield improvement is one of the methods to breed rice plant. Therefore, breeding rice genotypes can be used in breeding programs, to produce high-yield varieties. Given the importance of the number of grain per panicle and its impact on increasing rice grain yield per unit area, this study aimed to screen rice genotypes using a functional marker associated with the Gn1a gene, among several genes related to yield. In this research, 52 localraces and improved genotypes of rice were obtaied from the collection of the Rice Research Institute of Iran. The grain number trait was evaluated based on phenotypic and molecular evaluations in the field related to the band pattern amplified by gene specific primer pairs for Grain number 1a gene (Gn1a), controlling the grain number trait. The genetic evaluation identified 15 cultivars with the allele associated with a large panicle (more than 121 grains per panicle) and 37 cultivars without this allele. This finding, confirmed by phenotypic evaluation, demonstrates the reliability and accuracy of the marker used to predict and differentiate cultivars for upcoming breeding programs. The logistic regression results also supported this outcome. However, several other examined samples exhibited a high number of seeds, indicating the presence of additional genes influencing the seed count per panicle in those lines.