The evaluation of six winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and 15 F7 lines for drought tolerance cultivated under rainfed conditions comprised studies of their morphophysiological and biochemical traits. Determining the relative water content (RWC) of flag leaves, antioxidant activity, and the soluble proteins proceeded at the flowering, milk, and wax ripeness stages of ontogenesis. The F7 lines Yubiley 90, Erytrospermum 100, 21 FAWWON9/Gaudio, 29th SAWYT N395, 21 FAWWON 9/Gallio, and Gobustan/Gyrmyzy gul 1 showed the highest performance for studied indicators, resulting in a recommendation as promising genotypes for use in breeding programs. Thus, a comprehensive assessment of drought tolerance traits allows for increasing the effectiveness of breeding programs, developing cultivars tolerant to climate change, and managing biotechnological and genomic strategies to improve the genotypes’ drought tolerance.
Wheat (T. aestivum L.), drought tolerance, rainfed conditions, productivity, antioxidant defense system
The integrative evaluation of morphophysiological and biochemical traits enhanced the efficiency of breeding strategies aimed at developing climate-resilient wheat (T. aestivum L.) cultivars.