Comparative Analysis of Some Garlic Varieties under Drought Stress Conditions

Abstract

Currently in Egypt the tendency is to counteract some negative effects caused by the climatic, edaphic changes and political conflicts on the Nile River water. So, the field experiment was carried out to provide a review of differential responses for four cultivars and adaptations under three levels of drought stress during two growing seasons (2012/2013 and 2013/2014). According to drought resistance indices i.e., drought tolerance index, yield injury %, superiority measure and relative performance, Egaseed 1 was the most tolerant cultivar of deficit water while Balady was the most sensitive cultivar. According to the stability analysis, Egaseed 2 followed by Sids 40 were the most stable cultivars while Balady cultivar was the lowest stability for bulb weight per plant under different environments conditions. Five ISSR primers used successfully of four garlic varieties under investigation with 50.83% of mean polymorphism and only three primers (HB08, HB11 and 44B) recorded unique bands. Based on the results of ISSR markers can be used in distinction among the four tested garlic cultivars across any breeding program.