Morpho-physiological evaluation of Elymus semicostatus (Nees ex Steud.) Melderis as potential donor for drought tolerance in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Gradual deterioration in water resources and unpredictable distribution pattern of annual precipitation amount are major threats having drastic effects on wheat crop biology. Whole life cycle of plant, from seed germination to seed setting, is quite sensitive to water given them, a major recognizable factor influencing its survival. Here, we evaluated morpho-physiological traits of Elymus semicostatus (Nees ex Steud.) Melderis grown under three water regimes condition during the year 2017-18. Plants were grown at A, B and C conditions marked as 25, 50 and 100% respectively based on the water availability. The pubescence on different plant parts, spike consistency, plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, relative water content, days to flowering, tiller number and thousand grain weight parameters were used to evaluate the effect of drought or water deficit conditions on plants. Variation with germplasm plasticity traits i:e:spike length, leaf area, grain weight, tiller number and positively correlated with days to flowering based on stress tolerance (r = .786, r = .525,r = .895 and r = .890 respectively). Overall, E.semicostatus accessions were identified as efficent donar of drought tolerance but NBPAU 13, NBPAU14, NBPAU18 and NBPAU28 showed much potential in drought tolerance. In concert with collection and in-situ conservation of wheat wild relatives, elaborative taxonomic keys, characterization and evaluation of these accessions, address the hybridization barriers for introgression of gene flow from wild germplasm is prioritized. The selection from broad set of useful morpho-physiological traits in Elymus semicostatus may explain the drought tolerance strategies in reference to phenotyping may have accelerated wheat breeding programs.