Multi-trait selection of wheat lines under drought-stress condition

Abstract

The immediate need for the increase in wheat production to meet the future world demand, associated with the occurrence of drastic climatic events, such as drought, makes it necessary to develop drought-resilient genotypes. The aims of this work were to evaluate the use of drought-tolerance indices for the selection of wheat genotypes, to compare the genetic gains in grain yield using different selection strategies by means of a multi-trait index, and to select superior drought-tolerant wheat genotypes. The total of 31 tropical wheat lines was evaluated in two experiments. Five agronomic traits were accessed. The grain yield data from the stress and nonstress experiments were used to obtain five drought-tolerance indices. The data were subjected to mixed model analysis, and four selection scenarios were designed. There was a significant effect of genotype for all traits. The inclusion of drought-tolerance indices in the selection index provided superior genetic gains in drought condition. Seven lines were selected due the high frequency of favorable alleles for drought-tolerance and other important agronomic traits. Drought-tolerance indices are appropriate for characterizing the response of wheat genotypes to droughtstress. The inclusion of drought-tolerance indices along with agronomic traits in multi-trait selection strategies provides for superior gains in grain yield compared to the non-inclusion of the indices.