Chemical treatment refines drought tolerance in wheat and its implications in changing climate: A review
Maguje Masa Malko, Anab Khanzada, Xiao Wang, Allan Samo, Qing Li, Dong Jiang, Jian Cai
Abstract
Chemical treatment is one of the encouraging approaches to refine the drought tolerance of wheat due to the possibility to be applied by both seed soaking and seedling foliar application at various growth stages of the plant. The effects of various chemical molecules treatment on wheat physiology and its productivity under drought were evaluated in this paper. As the climate changes continuously, it adversely treats crop production, particularly wheat cultivation. Chemical treatment is identified to stabilize the drought effect on wheat by improving drought-responsive defense hormones and enzyme activity by boosting stress protein expression and antioxidant enzymes for counteracting the formation of reactive oxygen species. The use of multiple chemicals with pre-and post-emergence treatment has refined drought tolerance to uphold the normal physiology of wheat under changing climates. Furthermore, exploring the potential priming chemicals and evaluating the molecules with varying growth stages, a combination of chemicals, and methods of treatment should be emphasized for an effective treatment approach.