Evaluation Of Drought Tolerance Research Articles

Evaluation technologies for assessing drought tolerance of Kimchi cabbage seedlings using hyperspectral imaging and principal component analysis

Conventionally, methods for evaluating the tolerance of kimchi cabbage have primarily relied on visual inspection. The development of evaluation criteria based on hyperspectral imaging may help address the problem of decision-making errors arising from visual inspection. However, to evaluate the tolerance of kimchi cabbage using hyperspectral imaging, not only are hyperspectral big data processing and sophisticated exponential model development required, but also real-time evaluation technology with high field usability. This study presents an evaluation method for extracting vegetation information from hyperspectral data, logically analyzing the extracted data, validating the developed model, and ensuring field utility. The red-edge band between 680 and 700 nm is for evaluating the drought tolerance of Kimchi cabbage. The proposed method allows for assessing the drought tolerance of Kimchi cabbage seedlings within a range of 1 to 30, using a robust index with a variance of approximately 2.25 and a sensitivity index with a variance of around 8.4. Since the proposed nonlinear drought tolerance evaluation method must strongly correlate with the chlorophyll index, its performance was verified using the newly proposed cross-point analyzer. While nonlinear drought evaluation technology can serve as a robust analysis method based on extensive data, it has the disadvantage of requiring a long evaluation time. However, the additionally developed cross-point analyzer can improve the real-time capability of testing. Proper utilization of these two analytical technologies enhances the performance of robust and rapid drought tolerance evaluation for Kimchi cabbage seedlings. Therefore, this study introduces two techniques for non-destructively and quantitatively explaining plant water stress.

Screening and Physiological Responses of Maize Inbred Lines to Drought Stress in South China

The frequent occurrence of localized and seasonal droughts has caused severe economic losses in maize production in South China. To promote sustainable maize production, selecting and breeding drought-tolerant varieties is vital for addressing water scarcity. Drought stress affects all aspects of crop morphological performance. In this study, the morphological performance of 285 maize inbred lines under drought stress was investigated using D-value analysis, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, cluster analysis and stepwise regression analysis. All indicators were significantly different in the regular treatment compared to the drought treatment. Specifically, survival rate, root fresh weight, root dry weight, plant dry weight, root/crown ratio, and plant fresh weight were used as indicators for drought-tolerance evaluation. Furthermore, the drought-tolerant inbred line CML323 and the drought-sensitive inbred line CB2-49-1 were screened by comprehensively evaluating D values. The drought-tolerant inbred line CML323 exhibits higher leaf relative water content, chlorophyll content, proline content, and ascorbate peroxidase and peroxidase activity while having lower malondialdehyde content, consequently demonstrating excellent drought tolerance. This study provides valuable insights into drought-tolerance indicators and reference materials for breeding maize varieties.

Evaluation of drought tolerance in various clones of Ceiba pentandra (Linn.) Gaertn: A comparative study

This study focuses on the drought tolerance of Ceiba pentandra (Kapok tree), an emergent tree of the tropical rainforest, bye valuating 25 different clones collected from Tamil Nadu. The research assessed drought tolerance through Relative Water Content (RWC) and Chlorophyll Stability Index (CSI). Among the clones, MTPCPP15 from Varusanadu demonstrated superior water retention and moderate drought tolerance, making it the most suitable for semi-arid and rain fed regions. The findings suggest that this clone is well-adapted to water-stress conditions, making it a viable option for drought-prone areas.

Comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance of six Chinese chestnut varieties (clones) based on flavonoids and other physiological indexes

Flavonoids are crucial secondary metabolites that possess the ability to mitigate UV damage and withstand both biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, it is of immense significance to investigate the flavonoid content as a pivotal indicator for a comprehensive assessment of chestnut's drought tolerance. This study aimed to determine the flavonoid content and drought tolerance-related physiological and biochemical indices of six chestnut varieties (clones) grafted trees—Qianxi 42 (QX42), Qinglong 45 (QL45), Yanshanzaofeng (YSZF), Yanzi (YZ), Yanqiu (YQ), and Yanlong (YL)-under natural drought stress. The results were used to comprehensively analyze the drought tolerance ability of these varieties. The study revealed that the ranking of drought tolerance indices in terms of their ability to reflect drought tolerance was as follows: superoxide (oxide) dismutase (SOD) activity, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, flavone content, catalase (CAT) activity, proline (PRO) content, soluble sugar content, peroxidase (POD) activity, betaine content, flavonol content, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, soluble protein content, superoxide ion (OFR) content, superoxide (ion OFR) production rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, chlorophyll content. Through principal component analysis, the contents of flavonoids and flavonols can be used as indicators for comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance of chestnut. The comprehensive evaluation order of drought tolerance of grafted trees of 6 chestnut varieties (Clones) was: QL45 > QX42 > YQ > YZ > YSZF > YL.

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in USDA Tomato Germplasm at Seedling Stage

Drought, a crucial abiotic stressor, markedly reduces the growth and yield of tomato crops (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Consequently, adopting drought-resistant cultivars and implementing breeding programs to enhance drought tolerance have emerged as enduring solutions to alleviate the adverse effects of drought in various tomato cultivation regions. In this study, 68 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) tomato accessions were assessed in a controlled greenhouse experiment, encompassing both water deficit treatment and a control group subjected to standard watering conditions. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results of this study pinpointed four accessions, PI 365956, PI 584456, PI 390510, and PI 370091, as drought-tolerant accessions. Additionally, high broad-sense heritability was revealed for leaf wilting, leaf rolling, and SPAD chlorophyll content (total leaf chlorophyll). Furthermore, positive correlations were found among parameters associated with leaf wilting, leaf rolling, and SPAD chlorophyll content. The findings offer valuable insights for tomato breeding initiatives, especially those focused on enhancing drought tolerance in elite cultivars. Future studies will expand the evaluation to include a larger pool of tomato accessions and conduct a genome-wide association study to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for molecular breeding in tomatoes.

Drought Tolerance Evaluation and Growth Response of Chinese Cabbage Seedlings to Water Deficit Treatment

Drought is a significant climatic factor that significantly affects the production of Chinese cabbage, a crop that is highly susceptible to drought stress. The development and cultivation of drought-tolerant varieties could be a viable strategy to minimize the damage caused by climate change and ensure stable production of Chinese cabbage. This requires the implementation of technologies for early evaluation and selection of a plethora of resources. In this study, we screened 100 varieties and breeding resources for drought tolerance under a water deficit treatment at the seedling stage. We also evaluated the growth response of Chinese cabbage varieties and breeding resources under water deficit treatment and selected drought-tolerant Chinese cabbage genotypes. We confirmed that the visual score for wilting, which evaluates the wilting response during the recovery process of Chinese cabbage seedlings through water deficit treatment and re-watering, can be used as an indicator for evaluating tolerance to drought stress. The visual score for wilting showed a high correlation with major traits representing drought tolerance. Our findings highlight the need for an integrated approach that considers various environmental conditions, varieties, and lines to select and develop drought-tolerant varieties. We selected ‘18-FH112-1’ and ‘18-FH112-1-2’ among others, and these germplasms will be useful resources for drought tolerance breeding. This study provides a foundation for future efforts to develop drought-tolerant Chinese cabbage varieties, thereby contributing to the stable production of this crucial crop.

Drought Tolerance Evaluation of ‘Zorzal,’ the Most Cultivated Common Bean in Chile, a Country Facing Desertification

Drought Tolerance Evaluation of ‘Zorzal,’ the Most Cultivated Common Bean in Chile, a Country Facing Desertification

Tolerance evaluation and genetic relationship analysis among some economically important chestnut cultivars in Türkiye using drought-associated SSR and EST-SSR markers.

The aim of this study was to evaluate drought tolerance and genetic relationships among some important chestnut cultivars for Türkiye by using drought-related genomic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and genic expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers. Using five SSR markers, the average number of alleles (avNa), mean heterozygosity (Havp) and polymorphism information content (PIC) were determined to be 9.22, 0.395 and 0.375, respectively. In addition, using eight EST-SSR markers, the values of avNa, Havp and PIC were determined to be 7.75, 0.309 and 0.262, respectively. All microsatellite markers used in this study showed 100% polymorphism among chestnut cultivars. In UPGMA dendrograms obtained with both SSR and EST-SSR markers, the Erfelek and Hacıömer chestnut cultivars were determined to be the most similar cultivars. Some assessments are discussed regarding drought tolerance for specific alleles obtained from the EST-SSR markers GOT045, GOT021, GOT004, FIR094 and VIT033 in chestnut cultivars. Some preliminary results regarding drought tolerance in chestnut cultivars were obtained in our study with the help of these markers. Our study also characterized the genetic relationships among chestnut cultivars of great importance using drought-related character-specific markers.

Drought Tolerance Evaluation and Verification of Fifty Pakchoi (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis) Varieties under Water Deficit Condition

Reduced available water resources have become the main limiting factor for the production of leafy vegetable, such as pakchoi, which can be effectively addressed by growing water-efficient varieties. Therefore, it is particularly important for evaluation and verification of drought tolerant varieties. In this study, 50 different varieties of pakchoi were detected for their morphological and physiological indicators under both normal-irrigated and water-deficiency environments. Based on systematic analysis of these evaluation indicators using different evaluation methods, the significant indicators were identified and the prediction model was established followed by validation of different drought tolerant of pakchoi varieties. The results showed that considerable differences were observed in all the indicators detected under conditions of water deprivation compared with normal irrigation. Frequency distribution revealed that the indictors sensitivity with significant changes to water-deficient conditions was ordered as follows: aboveground fresh and dry weight, followed by belowground fresh and dry weight, root volume, root length, root activity, and soluble sugar. Correlation analysis showed that each indicator was significantly or extremely significantly associated with other indices, indicating that there is a certain degree of association between the indices. Principal component analysis (PCA) turned 16 indicators into four independent components, with a cumulative contribution ratio of 80.147%. According to the results of drought tolerance comprehensive evaluation value (D-value) analysis and cluster analysis, 50 varieties were ranked in relation to drought tolerance and classified into five categories, among them Jinhui, Qingguan, Dongyue, Xiazhijiao, and Hanszifei, which were classified as highly drought-tolerant cultivars. Moreover, the stepwise regression model was established and demonstrated that soluble sugar, average root diameter, belowground fresh weight, root volume, and leaf number were selected as key indicators which can be used for screening and identifying drought-pakchoi varieties. Furthermore, the tolerance capacity of pakchoi varieties was further validated using one representative variety selected from five groups and treated with water-deficit stress. It was demonstrated that the established model was verified consistent with drought tolerance of pakchoi varieties, and tolerance capacity was closely related to increasing epidermal stomatal density, maintaining high photosynthesis, and increasing antioxidant enzyme activity to reduce damage (ROS). The results proposed the key drought tolerance indicators and evaluation methods, which provide the basis for the screening of leaf-vegetable varieties with different drought-tolerances, as well the identified varieties could be used for effective water-saving production.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Ecological Functional Traits and Screening of Key Indicators of Leymus chinensis Germplasm Resources from Northern China and Mongolia

Leymus chinensis is important for ecological restoration and stock farming in Eurasia. In the context of climate change, excavating L. chinensis germplasm resources with excellent ecological functional traits is important to resist grassland degradation and promote the restoration of degraded grassland ecosystems. In this study, we used 42 L. chinensis germplasm resources (LC01–LC42) from different geographical sources to perform a multidimensional comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance, rhizome space expansion, and soil improvement abilities. (1) LC07, LC15, LC18, and LC19 exhibited excellent ecological functional traits and could be used in breeding for ecological restoration. They were mainly from eastern and central Mongolia and central Inner Mongolia. (2) Principal component analysis showed that eight principal components with eigenvalues ≥1 were extracted from 26 traits of L. chinensis. The cumulative contribution rate was 80.551%. (3) There was a significant positive correlation between the F value and longitude and a significant negative correlation of the F value with latitude. L. chinensis germplasms from high longitudes and low altitudes may exhibit better comprehensive performance. (4) Plant height, leaf number, tiller number, malonaldehyde, chlorophyll content, dry weight on the ground, maximum one-direction extended distance, and organic matter can be used as key indices to comprehensively evaluate L. chinensis germplasm resources.

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Durum Wheat Landraces Using Grain Yield-Based Drought Selection Indices

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Durum Wheat Landraces Using Grain Yield-Based Drought Selection Indices

Selection of Shrubs for Urban Environments—An Evaluation of Drought Tolerance of 120 Species and Cultivars

Shrubs comprise a very large proportion of the plant material used in public as well as private green spaces. Yet, there is currently a lack of quantitative assessments of stress tolerance in a large proportion of available species and cultivars of shrubs, thus complicating any design process involving shrubs. The aim of this study was to evaluate drought tolerance of many common and less traditional shrubs intended for public planting. Through this compilation, a first contribution (dataset) to species selection to obtain expected ecosystem services of shrubs is offered. As water stress is a major constraint for landscape plants in urban environments and is likely to increase in many regions under future climate scenarios, the quantitative drought tolerance of a species or genotype must be a fundamental consideration for plant selection for urban environments. In this study, we used water potential at the turgor loss point (ΨP0) as a key trait for evaluating drought tolerance of different species of shrubs. ΨP0 is a highly instructive trait because it represents a quantifiable measure of physiological drought tolerance. More negative ΨP0 values represent greater drought tolerance by allowing the leaf to maintain physiological function over a greater range of leaf water potentials. ΨP0 was estimated for a wide range of shrubs, representing a total of 44 genera and 120 species and cultivars. The mean ΨP0 value for all 120 shrub species and cultivars was −2.76 MPa, with the overall species ΨP0 value ranging from −1.48 MPa to −4.23 MPa. Intraspecific variation (variation between cultivars) was evaluated using five cultivars of Spiraea japonica and one wild collected genotype. Within this species, there was a range of ΨP0 values of 1.66 MPa, with S. japonica ‘Little Princess’ having the highest estimated drought tolerance (ΨP0 = −2.78) and the wild-type S. japonica having the lowest (ΨP0 = −4.44 MPa).

Exogenous Application of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Nano-Selenium (Nano-Se) Alleviated the PEG-Induced Water Deficit Stress and Improved the Crop Performance of Camelina

While previous studies have shown camelina drought tolerance relative to other oilseed crops, drought has been documented to severely influence the productivity of camelina. To date, little information is available on the drought tolerance of camelina genotypes. This study was conducted to evaluate drought tolerance in fifteen camelina genotypes and test the alleviative effect of nanoparticles on PEG-induced water deficit stress (WDS) at the whole-plant level at the Yangzhou University Pratacultural Science Experimental Station in September 2021. Four different degrees of WDS were induced by a range of PEG solution concentrations (0, 16.7, 25.0, 37.5, and 56.3 mM). A petri dish study determined that CamK8 and CamK9 (GR50 = 19.0 and 34.3 mM, respectively) were the most sensitive and tolerant genotypes, respectively, to PEG-induced WDS. Results from the whole-plant test showed that the foliar application of MWCNTs (dose: 50 or 100 mg L−1) or nano-Se (dose: 5 or 10 mg L−1) alleviated the adverse effect of PEG-induced WDS, and increased the camelina plant height (ranges: 51.1–56.3 cm) and crop yield (ranges: 0.11–0.14 g plant−1) compared with untreated control and PEG-treated plants (height: 43.5–56.9 cm; yield: 0.06–0.12 g plant−1) in CamK8 without affecting the principal fatty acid composition and groups in camelina oil. The results of this study demonstrated that applying MWCNTs or nano-Se could alleviate WDS and maintain seed yield in camelina, providing the possibility of using these nanoparticles to manage WDS in agricultural practices.

Variation in Seed Germination and Amylase Activity of Diverse Carrot [Daucus carota (L.)] Germplasm under Simulated Drought Stress

Drought is one of the major environmental challenges constraining the production of agricultural crops, including carrot. Seed germination is the initial and most critical stage of crop establishment, and it is very sensitive to drought stress because water scarcity affects the enzymatic solubilization of stored metabolites in seeds that provide energy for the growth of germinating embryo. Few studies evaluating the effect of drought stress on carrot seed germination of more than a few cultivars grown under stress have been published. Therefore, the present study was designed to define the appropriate osmotic potential for evaluating drought tolerance of carrot, evaluate the response of diverse carrot germplasm to drought stress during seed germination to identify drought-tolerant accessions that may be used by plant breeders, and evaluate the relation between amylase activity and germination rate of drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive accessions. To identify an appropriate screening osmotic potential, two commercial cultivars and two United States Department of Agriculture inbreeds were evaluated at six osmotic potentials (00, −0.30, −0.51, −0.58, −0.80, and −1.05 MPa); −0.58 MPa was identified as the optimal osmotic potential for screening the drought tolerance of carrot seed. Cultivated and wild carrot plant introductions (PIs) (n = 200 and n = 50, respectively) from the National Plant Germplasm System were evaluated for drought tolerance under nonstress and simulated drought stress conditions (00 MPa and −0.58 MPa, respectively) by calculating the absolute decrease (AD) in percent germination, inhibition index (II), relative drought tolerance (RDT), and drought tolerance index (DTI). All measurements of drought tolerance identified significant differences among accessions; the AD in seed germination ranged from 0.0% to 69.3%, II ranged from 0.0% to 80.2%, RDT ranged from 0.2 to 1.0, and DTI ranged from 0.13 to 1.47. All wild carrot accessions displayed low levels of drought tolerance, but PI 652387 and PI 177381 (both from Turkey) and PI 274297 (Pakistan) were most drought-sensitive, whereas cultivated accessions PI 643114 (United States), PI 652208 (China), and PI 502347 (Uzbekistan) were most drought-tolerant. Tolerant accessions displayed much higher α-amylase activity under nonstress conditions than sensitive accessions, and α-amylase activity of tolerant accessions was also reduced less with seed germination under increasing osmotic potential (range, 0.0 to −1.05 MPa) than sensitive accessions over 24, 48, and 72 hours of seed germination. This is the first evaluation of drought stress tolerance during seed germination and the enzymatic response of diverse carrot germplasms under simulated drought stress.

Targeted and untargeted metabolomics reveals deep analysis of drought stress responses in needles and roots of Pinus taeda seedlings.

Drought stress is one of major environmental stresses affecting plant growth and yield. Although Pinus taeda trees are planted in rainy southern China, local drought sometime occurs and can last several months, further affecting their growth and resin production. In this study, P. taeda seedlings were treated with long-term drought (42d), and then targeted and untargeted metabolomics analysis were carried out to evaluate drought tolerance of P. taeda. Targeted metabolomics analysis showed that levels of some sugars, phytohormones, and amino acids significantly increased in the roots and needles of water-stressed (WS) P. taeda seedlings, compared with well-watered (WW) pine seedlings. These metabolites included sucrose in pine roots, the phytohormones abscisic acid and sacylic acid in pine needles, the phytohormone gibberellin (GA4) and the two amino acids, glycine and asparagine, in WS pine roots. Compared with WW pine seedlings, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine significantly increased in needles of WS pine seedlings, but significantly reduced in their roots. The neurotransmitters L-glutamine and hydroxytyramine significantly increased in roots and needles of WS pine seedlings, respectively, compared with WW pine seedlings, but the neurotransmitter noradrenaline significantly reduced in needles of WS pine seedlings. Levels of some unsaturated fatty acids significantly reduced in roots or needles of WS pine seedlings, compared with WW pine seedlings, such as linoleic acid, oleic acid, myristelaidic acid, myristoleic acid in WS pine roots, and palmitelaidic acid, erucic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid in WS pine needles. However, three saturated fatty acids significantly increased in WS pine seedlings, i.e., dodecanoic acid in WS pine needles, tricosanoic acid and heptadecanoic acid in WS pine roots. Untargeted metabolomics analysis showed that levels of some metabolites increased in WS pine seedlings, especially sugars, long-chain lipids, flavonoids, and terpenoids. A few of specific metabolites increased greatly, such as androsin, piceatanol, and panaxatriol in roots and needles of WS pine seedlings. Comparing with WW pine seedlings, it was found that the most enriched pathways in WS pine needles included flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, ABC transporters, diterpenoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and flavonoid biosynthesis; in WS pine roots, the most enriched pathways included tryptophan metabolism, caffeine metabolism, sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. Under long-term drought stress, P. taeda seedlings showed their own metabolomics characteristics, and some new metabolites and biosynthesis pathways were found, providing a guideline for breeding drought-tolerant cultivars of P. taeda.

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Emmer Based Wheat Double Haploid Lines Using Surrogate Traits and Stress Tolerance Indices

Wheat is one of the major cereals and staple food cultivated worldwide, affected by severe environmental and climate changes. Global warming has led to significant variations in wheat production, accounting for losses up to 6.4% for each 1°C rise in temperature. Recurrent droughts in cultivable areas are anticipated to increase the risk of wheat yield loss by almost 12% by the end of the 21stcentury. The present study was undertaken to identify component traits contributing to drought tolerance and to evaluate wheat doubled haploid (DH) lines for drought tolerance using various stress tolerance indices. Fifty-three wheat DH lines and 11 check varieties were evaluated for grain yield, agronomic, physiological traits and drought tolerance indices under rainfed and restricted irrigation conditions in the 2019-20 cropping season. The results of ANOVA revealed that various yield contributing, agronomic and physiological traits showed highly significant genotypic variation. A significant positive correlation was observed between grain yield under rainfed (Ys) and restricted irrigation (Yp) conditions and geometric mean productivity (GMP), mean productivity (MP), harmonic mean (HM), stress tolerance index (STI) and yield index (YI). Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a significant positive correlation between stress susceptibility index (SSI) and tolerance (TOL). Based on PCA and cluster analysis, the test entries like DH 989 and DH 554, along with check cultivars NI 5439, NIAW 1415, DPW 621-50, were more stable in a rainfed environment while DH 807, DH 430, DH 435, DH 417 and DH 431 were highly adapted to restricted irrigation conditions.DH 66, DH 227,DH 931, DH 62, DH 942 DH 875, DH 134 and DH 179 were identified as susceptible genotypes. Cluster analysis also classified the genotypes into four groups, i.e., resistant, susceptible, tolerant and moderately tolerant to drought conditions. As per our study, few genotypes susceptible to drought exhibited yield reduction while the tolerant genotypes were stable, suggesting their genetic variability and utilization in a breeding program.

Evaluating drought tolerance in marigold cultivars across different soil moisture levels

Evaluating drought tolerance in marigold cultivars across different soil moisture levels

Introgression of Drought Tolerance into Elite Basmati Rice Variety through Marker-Assisted Backcrossing

Drought is one of the major abiotic threat to rice production in the context of climate change. Super Basmati is an elite, fine grain basmati rice variety grown in Punjab, Pakistan. Due to drought sensitive in nature, its yield has been facing an alarming situation in production because of gradual decrease in irrigated water for a couple of years. Three reported novel QTLs for drought tolerance were selected for incorporation into Super Basmati by employing marker assisted selection strategy. IR55419-04 with novel QTLs was used as a donor parent. Foreground selection was performed by applying PCR based QTL linked SSR markers followed by recombinant selection by using 2–4 flanking markers. Background selection was exercised by using polymorphic SSR markers for maximum genome recovery of the Super Basmati. The individuals homozygous at the target QTLs and with maximum background of Super Basmati at the rest of the non-target genome was selected for evaluation of drought tolerance. Under drought stress conditions, the yields of all introgressed lines (ILs) were 44.2%–125.7% higher than recurrent parent. Six superior ILs that are drought tolerant and very similar to Super Basmati in terms of agronomic and grain quality traits are marked for release as drought-tolerant varieties in arid regions or for use in breeding programs of high grain quality and drought-tolerant parents.

Agronomic, phytochemical and drought tolerance evaluation of Iranian cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) ecotypes under different soil moisture levels: a step towards identifying pharmaceutical and industrial populations

Context Cannabis is a herbaceous annual plant that belongs to the Cannabaceae family, which is used in the production of fibre, paper, oil and pharmaceutical products. Aims The aim of this study was to identify drought-tolerant ecotypes and medicinal and industrial populations. Methods Due to the medicinal and industrial importance of cannabis, 12 cannabis ecotypes were collected from different regions of Iran. Then, their agronomic and phytochemical characteristics were evaluated under different soil moisture conditions. Key results The soil moisture levels had significant effects (P < 0.01) on the studied traits except for the 1000 seed weight. Based on duration of the growth period, the Tabas and Dasht-e-Moghan ecotypes were identified as early and late maturing ecotypes, respectively. Also, the highest stem dry weight and stem height/diameter ratio and the lowest seed yield were related to the Dasht-e-Moghan ecotype, which is valuable for fibre production. Based on seed yield (relative reduction) and some tolerance indexes, the Tabas and Tabrize ecotypes were shown to be the most tolerant and sensitive ecotypes, respectively. As soil moisture decreased, tetrahydrocannabinol levels increased and cannabidiol levels decreased. The highest amount of tetrahydrocannabinol was related to the Qom ecotype at 50% soil moisture and the highest amount of cannabidiol was related to the Rasht ecotype at 100% soil moisture. Conclusions Generally, these ecotypes had different responses to soil moisture. Some ecotypes were valuable in terms of the production of pharmaceutical metabolites and some in terms of fibre production. Implications Tolerant and sensitive ecotypes might be considered in production and also breeding programs.

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Camelina (Camelina Sativa) Doubled Haploid Lines Using Selection Index of Ideal Genotype (SIIG)

Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Camelina (Camelina Sativa) Doubled Haploid Lines Using Selection Index of Ideal Genotype (SIIG)