Evaluation of some physiological traits as indicators of drought tolerance in bread wheat genotypes

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ability of some physiological traits to identify drought-tolerant bread wheat genotypes. To this end, twenty bread wheat genotypes were assessed under post anthesis drought stress (rain-fed) and irrigated conditions. The Stress Tolerance Index (STI) was used as a measure of drought tolerance. Relationships between STI and Cell Membrane Stability (CMS), Proline Concentration (PC), Relative Water Content (RWC), Chlorophyll a/b Ratio (Chl a/b), Relative Chlorophyll Content (RCC), Excised Leaf Water Retention (ELWR), and Relative Water Loss (RWL) were determined in order to find out whether these physiological traits could be used as the indicators of drought tolerance. The results showed that ELWR, RWL, and CMS could be considered as reliable indicators in screening wheat genotypes for drought tolerance.