Prospectives for applying molecular and genetic methodology to improve wheat cultivars in drought environments.
With the advent of molecular biotechnologies, new opportunities are available for plant physiologists to study the relationships between wheat traits and their genetic control. The functional determinations of all genes that participate in drought adaptation or tolerance reactions are expected to provide an integrated understanding of the biochemical and physiological basis of stress responses in wheat. However, despite all the recent technological breakthroughs, the overall contribution of genomics-assisted breeding to the release of drought-resilient wheat cultivars has so far been marginal. This paper critically analyses how biotechnological, genetic and information tools can contribute to accelerating the release of improved, drought-tolerant wheat cultivars. Armed with such information from established models, it will be possible to elucidate the physiological basis of drought tolerance and to select genotypes with an improved yield under water-limited conditions.
Zhao
Chang-Xing
CX
College of Plant Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China. zhaochangxing@126.com <zhaochangxing@126.com>
Guo
Ling-Yu
LY
Jaleel
Cheruth Abdul
CA
Shao
Hong-Bo
HB
Yang
Hong-Bing
HB
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004190:Disasters; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*