Breeding wheat for drought tolerance： Progress and technologies

• Published in: Journal of Integrative Agriculture Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 935 - 943
• Main Authors: Mwadzingeni, Learnmore, Shimelis, Hussein, Dube, Ernest, Laing, Mark D, Tsilo, Toi J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colege of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal/African Centre for Crop Improvement, Scottsvile 3209, South Africa%Agricultural Research Council-Smal Grain Institute ARC-SGI, Bethlehem 9700, South Africa 01.05.2016; Elsevier
• Subjects: arid lands; climate change; drought; drought tolerance; gene transfer; genes; genetic variation; genomic selection; genomics; genotyping; marker-assisted selection; phenotype; phenotyping; Triticum aestivum; wheat; 反复干旱; 圆锥小麦; 基因组学; 基因组技术; 多基因控制; 小麦生产; 抗旱育种; 知识系统; genomic selection; drought tolerance; wheat; phenotyping; genotyping
• ISSN: 2095-3119; 2352-3425
• DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61102-9

Recurrent drought associated with climate change is among the principal constraints to global productivity of wheat（Triticum aestivum（L.） and T. turgidum（L.））. Numerous efforts to mitigate drought through breeding resilient varieties are underway across the world. Progress is, however, hampered because drought tolerance is a complex trait that is controlled by many genes and its full expression is affected by the environment. Furthermore, wheat has a structurally intricate and large genome. Consequently, breeding for drought tolerance requires the integration of various knowledge systems and methodologies from multiple disciplines in plant sciences. This review summarizes the progress made in dry land wheat improvement, advances in knowledge, complementary methodologies, and perspectives towards breeding for drought tolerance in the crop to create a coherent overview. Phenotypic, biochemical and genomics-assisted selection methodologies are discussed as leading research components used to exploit genetic variation. Advances in phenomic and genomic technologies are highlighted as options to circumvent existing bottlenecks in phenotypic and genomic selection, and gene transfer. The prospects of further integration of these technologies with other omics technologies are also provided.