Consequences and Mitigation Strategies of Abiotic Stresses in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under the Changing Climate

Abstract

Wheat is one of the world’s most commonly consumed cereal grains. During abiotic stresses, the physiological and biochemical alterations in the cells reduce growth and development of plants that ultimately decrease the yield of wheat. Therefore, novel approaches are needed for sustainable wheat production under the changing climate to ensure food and nutritional security of the ever-increasing population of the world. There are two ways to alleviate the adverse effects of abiotic stresses in sustainable wheat production. These are (i) development of abiotic stress tolerant wheat cultivars by molecular breeding, speed breeding, genetic engineering, and/or gene editing approaches such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas toolkit, and (ii) application of improved agronomic, nano-based agricultural technology, and other climate-smart agricultural technologies. The development of stress-tolerant wheat cultivars by mobilizing global biodiversity and using molecular breeding, speed breeding, genetic engineering, and/or gene editing approaches such as CRISPR-Cas toolkit is considered the most promising ways for sustainable wheat production in the changing climate in major wheat-growing regions of the world. This comprehensive review updates the adverse effects of major abiotic stresses and discusses the potentials of some novel approaches such as molecular breeding, biotechnology and genetic-engineering, speed breeding, nanotechnology, and improved agronomic practices for sustainable wheat production in the changing climate.

Osmopriming with Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Germinating Crop Seeds: A Review

“…In recent years, a growing amount of research has been conducted to investigate the impact of multiple stress factors on crop growth and productivity [7,[11][12][13][14]. Various techniques such as proper agronomic practices (e.g., pest management, soil fertility management, and seed priming), traditional breeding, and modern biotechnology have been employed to enhance crop tolerance to abiotic stresses [15][16][17]. Traditional breeding methods such as hybridization and selection, as well as mutation breeding, have contributed considerably to the generation of stress-tolerant crops [16,[18][19][20][21][22]; however, the process is fairly time-consuming.…”

“…Various techniques such as proper agronomic practices (e.g., pest management, soil fertility management, and seed priming), traditional breeding, and modern biotechnology have been employed to enhance crop tolerance to abiotic stresses [15][16][17]. Traditional breeding methods such as hybridization and selection, as well as mutation breeding, have contributed considerably to the generation of stress-tolerant crops [16,[18][19][20][21][22]; however, the process is fairly time-consuming. The 'omic' biotechnologies (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics, and genomics) can be used to identify the genes that are associated with stress tolerance in crops.…”

Ionomic Approaches for Discovery of Novel Stress-Resilient Genes in Plants

“…Lee et al [146] confirmed that canola genotypes with higher S usage efficiency (SUE) could effectively withstand drought stress. Similarly, drought tolerance was also observed in wheat following increased K accumulation [147]. In a recent study, Jia et al [130] performed ionomic and metabolomic analyses of Malus halliana during saline-alkali stress, which caused ion imbalance and Na + toxicity.…”

Epigenetics: A Key to Comprehending Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Family Poaceae

“…It provides substantially more protein per gram (12-15%) than rice or maize (2-3%), making it a superior grain [79], but despite this, its output is much lower than those of rice and corn [80]. Extreme abiotic stresses such as drought, high temperature, and salinity, among others, will reduce wheat output by 20%-30%, especially in developing countries [81]. Wheat yields are negatively impacted by stress throughout the reproductive stage of the plant [82].…”