Pre-harvest sprouting in wheat: current status and future prospects

Abstract

Pre- harvest sprouting (PHS) is one of the major constraint to wheat crop in areas experiencing high rainfall during the late maturity stages affecting both crop yields and quality of harvest in the world and north Eastern parts in India. This trait is polygenic and is affected by number of environmental factors. The available diversity for the trait is very limited and for improving tolerance newer sources of tolerance needs to be identified. The main cause of pre-harvest sprouting is the breakdown or lacking seed dormancy under humid and wet conditions and the starch in the germinated seeds is damaged due to alpha amylase activity. This review describes the factors affecting the pre-harvest sprouting tolerance, genes associated with PHS, physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanism involved in pre-harvest sprouting, screening for PHS and breeding approaches to develop improved tolerant genotypes.