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Screening for drought tolerance and genetic diversity of wheat varieties using agronomic and molecular markers

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Abstract

Background

The future predictions for frequent and severe droughts will represent a significant threat to wheat yield and food security. In this context, breeding has proven to be the most efficient approach to enhance wheat productivity in dry environments.

Methods and results

In this study, both agronomic and molecular-based approaches were used to evaluate the response of twenty-eight Tunisian wheat varieties to drought stress. The primary objective was to screen these varieties for drought tolerance using molecular and agro-morphological markers. All varieties were significantly affected by drought stress regarding various traits including total dry matter, straw length, flag leaf area, number of senescent leaves, SPAD value, grain yield and grain number. Furthermore, substantial variability in drought-stress tolerance was observed among wheat genotypes. The cluster analysis and principal component analyses confirmed the existence of genotypic variation in growth and yield impairments induced by drought. The stress susceptibility index (SSI) and tolerance index (TOL) proved to be the most effective indices and were strongly correlated with the varying levels of genotypic tolerance. The genotyping evaluation resulted in the amplification of 101 alleles using highly polymorphic 12 SSR markers, showed an average polymorphism of 74%.

Conclusions

Taken together, the combination of agronomic and molecular approaches revealed that Karim, Td7, D117 and Utique are the most drought-tolerant wheat varieties. These varieties are particularly promising candidates for genetic improvements and can be utilized as potential genitors for future breeding programs in arid and semi-arid regions.

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Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

ATI:

abiotic stress tolerance index

BY:

biological yield

DI:

drought resistance index

FWC:

field water capacity

GDD:

growth degree-days

GMP:

geometric mean productivity index

GN:

grain number

GY:

grain yield

K1STI and K2STI:

modified stress tolerance index

LA:

Flag leaf area

MP:

mean productivity

NSL:

Number of senescent leaves

PCA:

principal component analysis

PIC:

polymorphism information content

RDI:

relative drought index

RGR:

relative growth rate

RTC:

relative trait change

SAHN:

Sequential Agglomerative Hierarchical Nesting

SL:

straw length

SSD:

single seed descent

SSI:

stress susceptibility index

SSPI:

stress susceptibility percentage

SSR:

single sequence repeat

SPAD:

Chlorophyll content

STI:

stress tolerance index

TOL:

tolerance index

TDM:

total dry matter

UPGMA:

Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic average

WCA:

Ward`s cluster analysis

YI:

yield index

Yp :

yield under normal condition

Ys :

yield under stress condition

YSI:

yield stability index

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the University of Science of Tunis (FST), the National Gene Bank of Tunisia (BNG) and the National Research Institute of Rural Engineering Water and Forests (INRGREF) of Tunis. Special thanks are due to the staff of the laboratory of FST and BNG for their technical assistance and support. We are grateful to Madam Christie CHAAR for correcting the English language of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was not financially supported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Mycology, Pathologies and Biomarkers LR16ES05, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2092, Tunisia

    Asma Guizani & Fatma Gharbi

  2. Agricultural Applied Biotechnology Laboratory (LR16INRAT06), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

    Elyes Babay

  3. Laboratory of Valorization of Non-Conventional Water (LR16INRGREF02), Water and Forestry, National Institute of Rural Engineering, Carthage University, Tunis, Tunisia

    Hend Askri

  4. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, National Research Council, Bari, 70126, Italy

    Mariella Finetti Sialer

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  1. Asma Guizani
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by AG, EB, HA, MFS and FG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AG and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Asma Guizani.

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Guizani, A., Babay, E., Askri, H. et al. Screening for drought tolerance and genetic diversity of wheat varieties using agronomic and molecular markers. Mol Biol Rep 51, 432 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-024-09340-9

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