UNDERSTANDING DROUGHT STRESS IN PLANTS FOR FACING CHALLENGES AND MANAGEMENT IN WHEAT BREEDING: A REVIEW

The global climate change induced frequent droughts are holding back wheat productivity. A lot of efforts are made across the world for the generation of drought tolerant wheat cultivars. However, the progress is hampered due to the complexity associated with the plant drought stress response. Besides, the large and complex genome of wheat is adding to the challenge. At present, the generation of drought tolerant variety will require the combined efforts from multiple disciplines of plant science. This review summarizes the possible strategies for combating drought stress associated with wheat yield loss, morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular response of the wheat plant in response to drought stress. Further emphasis is laid on already reported studies on the wheat cultivars for the identification and selection of drought-tolerant wheat cultivars based on transcriptomics, proteomics and transgenic approach.