Seedling Survivability and Change of Some Physiological Characters for Drought Resistance in Wheat

Detection of genotypic variation in response to water stress at the seedling stage provides important contributions to plant breeders in the rapid and effective selection of drought-resistant genotypes. The study was conducted in 2021 under in vivo conditions using soil samples taken from the trial area of Nam & imath;k Kemal University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Field Crops and 45 genotypes, including 39 bread wheat, 1 rye, 1 Spella, 2 Kavl & imath;ca, and 2 Einkorn populations. Seedling survivability, stomata density, stomata width and length, seedling development score, canopy temperature, and chlorophyll content were examined to determine the early drought resistance in the experiment. When 45 genotypes in different maturing groups were examined for seedling survivability after drought application, the highest seedling survivability was found in Esperia, Rumeli, Krasunia O'deska, Almeria, Falado, and Rebelde varieties with 5 score values. Adelaide, President, Selimiye, Hakan, Quality, Hamza, LG 59, Golia, Siyez 1, and Siyez 2 genotypes showed the lowest seedling survivability. Esperia, Rumelia, Krasunia O'deska, Almeria, Falado, and Rebelde varieties, which have a high seedling survival rate, have low canopy temperature and high chlorophyll content. The data obtained show that early seedling survivability can be used in the selection of genotypes for drought resistance.