Drought tolerance assessment and trait associations in two wheat accessions under varying water stress conditions

Abstract

This study aimed to assess drought tolerance in two wheat accessions (ATTILA-7 and RYENA28) under different water stress conditions and examine trait associations. The accessions were subjected to well-watered, moderately watered, and drought-stressed treatments. Various yield and yield-determining traits were measured, including plant height, number of tillers, days to heading, spikelets per spike, seeds per plant, and grain yield. Significant differences were observed among accessions and treatments for most traits. RYENA-28 (AC2) performed better under drought stress. Correlation analysis revealed consistent negative correlations between the number of days to heading and the number of seeds per plant across treatments (-0.93, -0.89, and -0.93), while the number of seeds per plant consistently showed significantly positive correlations with grain yield per plant (0.96, 0.97, and 0.82) across treatments. Plant height exhibited negative correlations with the number of tillers and days to heading but positive correlations with grain yield. Notably, the number of spikelets per spike consistently correlated positively with the number of seeds per plant across treatments. These findings provide insights for breeding programs focused on drought tolerance in wheat, emphasizing the selection of accessions with shorter stature, increased spikelets, and higher seed production to develop drought-tolerant wheat varieties with improved yield potential.