Determination of dna methylation diversity in wild durum wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) according to MSAP (methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism) technique

The purpose of this study was to determine variation of DNA metilation in the genotypes of wild emmer wheat collected from different parts of the "Fertile Crescent " region (T. dicoccoides) by the MSAP technique, to determine whether this variation varies according to regions where wild emmer genotypes were collected, and to determine how DNA methylation played a role in the evolution of durum wheat. In the study, 87 wild emmer genotypes and 3 durum wheat genotypes were used. To determine the methylation pattern of genomic DNA, 3 MSAP primer combinations were used. 1 TMD (Transposon-Methylation Display) primer combination was used to determine the methylation model of the 'CCGG' regions flanking the Thalos transposon element. It was determined that the average methylation levels of wild emmer populations of different country origin were close to each other. It was determined that the wild emmer population has a higher methylation level than the durum wheat population. It was determined that genomic DNA and Thalos transposon element showed wide variation in terms of methylation level and model. In this study, it was determined that genomic DNA and transposon methylation are generally specific to their origin and that wild wheats exhibit higher methylation levels than culture wheats. It was concluded that some genotypes can exhibit methylation patterns independent of their origin, some genotypes may be important for future studies to understand the role of epigenetic factors on gene function under different environmental conditions.