Many drought-adaptive traits have been investigated in wheat. However, association of these traits with genetic gains for yield under drought has been poorly tested and documented. Most difficulties encountered in the identification of accurate drought tolerance traits are due to the fact that wheat is cultivated under very different climatic conditions and faces very different drought scenarios worldwide.
While some single traits have benefited from tremendous research efforts and have generated considerable debate in the literature (e.g., OA, ABA), relatively little emphasis has been placed on research that can be extrapolated and used directly to crop genetic improvement in target environments.
Most drought physiology research in wheat has been conducted in controlled environments and has been poorly integrated into breeding programmes. Multidisciplinary approaches involving physiologist, breeders, genebank managers, and biotechnologists are still scarce, holding back the exploitation of genetic diversity and the use of MAS for drought tolerance improvement.
Despite the tremendous potential offered by access to genetic resources from related species, and well-documented success in using them (e.g., 1B/1R translocation, synthetic wheats), wild Triticeae have been poorly exploited until now to improve drought tolerance in wheat.