Physiological and Molecular Basis of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Wheat

Abstract

WheatWheat is the second most important cereal crop of the world occupying about 220 million hectares area (mha) with a production of 716 million tons and accounts for 20% dietary protein of the people across world. Due to its significant contribution to global food security, it is very much essential to maintain the steady state in its production. Most wheatWheat growing regions are affected by multiple abiotic stressesAbiotic stresses like droughtDrought , heat, salinitySalinity and water logging, either alone or in combination. It has been predicted that the yield of wheatWheat will be lowered by 22% in the coming years due to significant changes in temperature and rainfall. An estimated 65 mha of wheatWheat area worldwide would be affected by droughtDrought . Hence, having the comprehensive knowledge on existing information on major abiotic stressesAbiotic stresses of wheatWheat and their physiologicalPhysiological and molecular basis would help us to address in future research gaps. A compilation of different abiotic stressAbiotic stress adaptive mechanisms, associated physiological traitsPhysiological traits , molecular markersMolecular markers , a cascade of gene networks involved in the development of transgenicTransgenic wheatWheat for droughtDrought and heat stressHeat stress tolerance has been presented. This inclusive information will be useful to wheatWheat researchers for further wheatWheat improvement.