The use of semi-dwarfing genes resulted in a significant improvement in wheat breeding. Of the 21 genes that condition straw shortening described in literature, Rht8 is one of the most widely used in wheat breeding programmes. This gene is located on the short arm of chromosome 2D within 0.6 cM from locus 261 Xgwm. Its presence can be identified only with the use of molecular methods, which include, among others, the SSR technique (Single Sequence Repeat). This technique makes it possible to generate products with the length of 165 bp, 174 bp, and 192 bp. Their presence indicates the occurrence of the gene Rht8 in the analyzed genotypes. The product of 192 bp in length is the most strongly associated with the reduction of wheat plant height and decreases height by about 7-8 cm. The aim of the work was to identify the semi-dwarfing genes for the presence of marker WMS 261, 192 bp in length, linked with Rht8, of wheat of different origin. Plant material consisted of 27 cultivars and nine lines of wheat. The study included Polish, Russian, Czech, Austrian, French, and English cultivars and Polish lines from Smolice Plant Breeding and from The Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding of The University of Life Sciences in Poznan. As a result of the conducted analysis, the presence of the specific product was found in 17 out of the 36 tested genotypes. They were Polish cultivars Grana, Kompana, Luna, Małgorzatka Udycka, Ostka Strzelecka, and Turnia and foreign cultivars Alcazar, Besostaja 4, and Ludwig. The presence of marker WMS 261 with the length of 192 bp was also found in three lines from Smolice Plant Breeding and in two lines from The Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding of The University of Life Sciences in Poznan.

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