AUTHOR=Khan Ajab , Ali Ahmad , Ullah Zahid , Ali Iftikhar , Kaushik Prashant , Alyemeni Mohammed Nasser , Rasheed Awais , Sher Hassan 

TITLE=Exploiting the drought tolerance of wild Elymus species for bread wheat improvement

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.982844

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.982844

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Crop wild resources are excellent source of new genetic variation for resilience against climate extremes. However, detailed characterization of the desirable phenotypes is very important before using these crop wild resources in breeding programs. Current study was therefore conducted to investigate water stress responses of eight wild Elymus species and two wheat cultivars. The experiment was carried out under varying level of osmotic stress induced by polyethylene glycol, and progressive water stress through different field capacities. Water stress significantly reduced both physiological and biochemical traits compared to control ranging from 7.1% (protein contents) to 34.5% (chlorophyll) under moderate, and 9.1% to 45.8% under severe stress. The anatomical features were also affected under progressive water stress including reduction in xylem vessels diameter (7.92% and 16.50%), phloem length (4.36% and 7.18%), vascular bundle length (3.09% and 6.04%) and ground tissue thickness (2.36% and 5.52%), respectively. Conclusively, Elymus borianus (endemic to Swat, Pakistan), E. russelli, E. caninus, E. longioristatus and E. dauhuricus outperformed the check wheat cultivar, Pirsabak 2005 which is a rainfed variety. The results revealed that Elymus species belonging to the tertiary genepool of bread wheat could be an excellent drought tolerance source for use in breeding program.