Incredible Role of Osmotic Adjustment in Grain Yield Sustainability under Water Scarcity Conditions in Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.)
Tahir Mahmood,
Muhammad Abdullah,
Sunny Ahmar,
Muhammad Yasir,
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal,
Muhmmad Yasir,
Shoaib Ur Rehman,
Sulaiman Ahmed,
Rashid Mehmood Rana,
Abdul Ghafoor,
Muhammad Kausar Nawaz Shah,
Xiongming Du,
Freddy Mora-Poblete
Affiliations
Tahir Mahmood
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhammad Abdullah
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Sunny Ahmar
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhammad Yasir
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhmmad Yasir
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
Shoaib Ur Rehman
Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan 60000, Pakistan
Sulaiman Ahmed
National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
Rashid Mehmood Rana
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Abdul Ghafoor
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Muhammad Kausar Nawaz Shah
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Xiongming Du
State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
Freddy Mora-Poblete
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Talca, Talca 3460000, Chile
Interrogations of local germplasm and landraces can offer a foundation and genetic basis for drought tolerance in wheat. Potential of drought tolerance in a panel of 30 wheat genotypes including varieties, local landraces, and wild crosses were explored under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. Considerable variation for an osmotic adjustment (OA) and yield components, coupled with genotype and environment interaction was observed, which indicates the differential potential of wheat genotypes under both conditions. Reduction in yield per plant (YP), thousand kernel weight (TKW), and induction of OA was detected. Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association of YP with directly contributing yield components under both environments, indicating the impotence of these traits as a selection-criteria for the screening of drought-tolerant genotypes for drylands worldwide. Subsequently, the association of OA with TKW which contributes directly to YP, indicates that wheat attains OA to extract more water from the soil under low water-potential. Genotypes including WC-4, WC-8 and LLR-29 showed more TKW under both conditions, among them; LLR-29 also has maximum OA and batter yield comparatively. Result provides insight into the role of OA in plant yield sustainability under DS. In this study, we figure out the concept of OA and its incredible role in sustainable plant yield in wheat.
