Translating Genetics and Physiology of Wheat Abiotic Stress to Improve Breeding Efficiency

Global climate change, with its trend toward greater aridity, combined with a growing global population, poses a major challenge to wheat productivity. Developing drought-tolerant cultivars with higher yields is essential to ensure food security.

In the Middle East, wheat is the most important grain crop. Wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides), the progenitor of all domesticated wheats, harbors wide genetic diversity for key agronomic traits, including drought resistance. Its high genetic similarity to durum wheat enables rapid and efficient transfer of beneficial genes into domesticated forms.

The WheatME project aims to improve drought and heat tolerance in durum wheat by exploiting this genetic diversity from wild relatives. To achieve this, we developed a large mapping population derived from a cross between an elite durum wheat cultivar and a highly drought-tolerant wild emmer accession.

This population will be evaluated in target environments (Israel and Jordan) for yield performance and morpho-physiological traits contributing to heat and drought tolerance. Using an existing high-density genetic map, we will identify genomic regions associated with improved productivity under water deficit.

These genomic regions, containing drought-resistance genes/QTL, will then be introgressed into elite Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian cultivars. The outcome will be the development of improved durum wheat varieties with high yield and resilience under heat and drought conditions.