Delineating the potential of root phenotypic and physiological attributes of wheat genotypes under stress conditions

Root, an often-overlooked component of plants, has recently garnered significant attention in research due to challenges in global food security caused by climate change. Despite the focus on above ground traits since the green revolution, progress has plateaued. To address this issue, the research aimrd to explore the root’s architectural and behavioral responses to abiotic stress-induced adversities. The study investigated scithe role of roots in Bread and Durum wheat in mediating abiotic stress resilience such as NaCl (100mM) and heavy metal (La), utilizing plant growth regulators such as ethylene (ET), dopamine (D), and aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) across a diverse set of 50 wheat genotypes. Through this study, novel insights were gained, including significant phenotypic variation in wheat varieties in terms of total root length, seminal root angle, root area, and root volume. Furthermore, the regulation in Na+ accumulation, K+/Na+ discrimination, and significant difference in total phenol content, total flavonoid content, and nitric oxide contents were observed. It is projected that in the forthcoming times, phenotyping technologies will be utilized in agricultural domains for the purpose of evaluating the combined phenotype of crops that arise as a result of various management tactics, soil inputs, and breeding methodologies . The outcomes of this investigation can be exploited in the development of plants possessing enhanced root system architecture, which are well-adapted to adverse environmental conditions.