Search

Abstract Background Cotton is one of the topmost fiber crops throughout the globe. During the last decade, abrupt changes in the climate resulted in drought, heat, and salinity. These stresses have seriously affected cotton production and significant losses all over the textile industry. The GhAGC kinase, a subfamily of AGC group and member of serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinases group and is highly conserved among eukaryotic organisms. The AGC kinases are compulsory elements of cell development, metabolic processes, and cell death in mammalian systems. The investigation of RNA editing sites within the organelle genomes of multicellular vascular plants, such as Gossypium hirsutum holds significant importance in understanding the regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Methods In present work, we characterized twenty-eight GhAGC genes in cotton and constructed phylogenetic tree using nine different species from the most primitive to the most recent. Results In sequence logos analyses, highly conserved amino acid residues were found in G. hirsutum, G. arboretum, G. raimondii and A. thaliana. The occurrence of cis-acting growth and stress-related elements in the promoter regions of GhAGCs highlight the significance of these factors in plant development and abiotic stress tolerance. Ka/Ks levels demonstrated that purifying selection pressure resulting from segmental events was applied to GhAGC with little functional divergence. We focused on identifying RNA editing sites in G. hirsutum organelles, specifically in the chloroplast and mitochondria, across all 28 AGC genes. Conclusion The positive role of GhAGCs was explored by quantifying the expression in the plant tissues under abiotic stress. These findings help in understanding the role of GhAGC genes under abiotic stresses which may further be used in cotton breeding for the development of climate smart varieties in abruptly changing climate.

Cotton is one of the world’s leading fiber crops, but climate change, drought, heat, and salinity have significantly decreased its production, consequently affecting the textile industries globally. To acclimate to these environmental challenges, a number of gene families involved in various molecular, physiological, and hormonal mechanisms play crucial roles in improving plants response to various abiotic stresses. One such gene family is the GhSRF, a Strubbelig-Receptor family (SRF), and member of the leucine-rich repeat (LRR-V) group. This family encodes leucine-rich repeat transmembrane receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) and have not yet been explored in cotton. Arabidopsis thaliana Strubbelig-Receptor gene sequences were used as queries to identify the homologs in cotton, with subsequent support from the literature and functional prediction through online data. In the current study, a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of cotton was conducted, identifying 22 SRF putative proteins encoded by 22 genes. We performed the detailed analysis of these proteins, including phylogeny, motif and gene structure characterization, promoter analysis, gene mapping on chromosomes, gene duplication events, and chromosomal sub-cellular localization. Expression analysis of putative genes was performed under drought and heat stress conditions using publicly available RNAseq data. The qRT-PCR results showed elevated expression of GhSRF2, GhSRF3, GhSRF4, GhSRF10, and GhSRF22 under drought and heat stress. So, it could be speculated that these genes may play a role in drought and heat tolerance in cotton. These findings could be helpful in cotton breeding programs for the development of climate-resilient cultivars.

Large and distinct families of receptor-like kinases (RLKs) play elemental roles in many fundamental processes of plants. The proline-rich extensin-like receptor kinase (PERK) family is one of the most pivotal classes of RLKs. To date, there have been no comprehensive or published studies conducted on the PERK gene family in Glycine max. This research aimed to characterize the role of the PERK gene family in cultivated soybean using a systematic array of bioinformatic and experimental approaches. We identified 16 PERK members in G. max through local BLASTp, using PERK members from Arabidopsis thaliana as a query. Tissue expression of genes, predicted via tissue specific expression analysis from the soybean database “SoyBase”, revealed that these PERK genes exhibit differentiated expression patterns in various plant organs. The gene structure was predicted via Gene Structure Display Server (GSDS). Phylogeny was demonstrated through an evolutionary tree employing the neighbor-joining method. Subcellular localization of proteins was identified via “Softberry” and cis-acting elements were identified through PlantCARE. The KASP (Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP)) marker was developed for the GmPERK-1-C and GmPERK-1-T allele, targeting position 167 nt in the CDS region. Genotyping results indicated that GmPERK-1 exhibits promising potential for utilization in molecular breeding programs for soybean to increase crop yield. Collectively, our findings indicate that G. max accessions harboring the GmPERK-1-C allele exhibit significantly higher thousand grain weight compared to accessions carrying the GmPERK-1-T allele. This research enhances the understanding of the molecular roles of PERK genes in G. max, providing valuable insights for the utilization of favorable genetic variations in soybean molecular breeding programs.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surfaced on 31 December, 2019, and was identified as the causative agent of the global COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a pneumonia-like disease. One of its accessory proteins, ORF6, has been found to play a critical role in immune evasion by interacting with KPNA2 to antagonize IFN signaling and production pathways, resulting in the inhibition of IRF3 and STAT1 nuclear translocation. Since various mutations have been observed in ORF6, therefore, a comparative binding, biophysical, and structural analysis was used to reveal how these mutations affect the virus’s ability to evade the human immune system. Among the identified mutations, the V9F, V24A, W27L, and I33T, were found to have a highly destabilizing effect on the protein structure of ORF6. Additionally, the molecular docking analysis of wildtype and mutant ORF6 and KPNA2 revealed the docking score of - 53.72 kcal/mol for wildtype while, -267.90 kcal/mol, -258.41kcal/mol, -254.51 kcal/mol and -268.79 kcal/mol for V9F, V24A, W27L, and I33T respectively. As compared to the wildtype the V9F showed a stronger binding affinity with KPNA2 which is further verified by the binding free energy (-42.28 kcal/mol) calculation. Furthermore, to halt the binding interface of the ORF6-KPNA2 complex, we used a computational molecular search of potential natural products. A multi-step virtual screening of the African natural database identified the top 5 compounds with best docking scores of -6.40 kcal/mol, -6.10 kcal/mol, -6.09 kcal/mol, -6.06 kcal/mol, and -6.03 kcal/mol for tophit1-5 respectively. Subsequent all-atoms simulations of these top hits revealed consistent dynamics, indicating their stability and their potential to interact effectively with the interface residues. In conclusion, our study represents the first attempt to establish a foundation for understanding the heightened infectivity of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and provides a strong impetus for the development of novel drugs against them.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important legume crop, primarily grown in the arid and semi-arid regions. It is a valuable protein source and rich in minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus. Salinity stress adversely affects chickpea germination, vegetative growth, and reproductive activities. The Na+/H+ exchanger (NHX), a gene family of membrane transporters, is well recognized for inducing salt tolerance in plants. The NHXs assist in maintaining ion and pH homeostasis in cells by exchanging K+ or Na+ for H+. This study was designed to identify and characterize the NHX genes for salt stress responsiveness in chickpea. Eight NHX genes were identified in chickpea. The phylogenetic analysis represented the evolutionary relationship of Cicer arietinum NHXs (CarNHXs) with Glycine max, Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, Phaseolus vulgaris, Lens culinaris, Vigna unguiculata, and Oryza sativa. The in-silico gene expression analysis indicated high expression of CarNHX3 (Ca_19073) and CarNHX7 (Ca_02050) under salt stress. The qRT-PCR further validated that the expression of CarNHX3 and CarNHX7 increased when plants were exposed to salt stress. This study provides a way forward to plan functional research to exploit CarNHX genes to enhance salt-tolerance in chickpea.

Background: The world's main crop for producing staple foods is wheat. In South Asia's cotton-wheat cropping system, however, a late cotton harvest causes a delayed wheat planting, which causes significant production losses. Therefore, this study investigated genetic diversity among wheat genotypes for late sowing. Additionally, associations between several yield-related parameters were discovered, along with their direct and indirect implications on the choice of the best genotypes suitable for late planting. Methods: Twenty wheat genotypes/advance lines were evaluated under two sowing times, i.e., normal sowing and late sowing for two consecutive years (2019–2021). Data regarding post anthesis traits were collected. Results: The findings showed that planting dates and genotypes substantially (p

Objectives: Inadvertent climate changes continuously threating the crops production and thus affecting the livelihood of peoples across the world. The maize production at world level has severely been hampered by the drought stress. Proline-rich extensin-like receptor kinases (PERKs) are considered among the sub-class of plants larger protein family, receptor kinases. Member of PERK gene family play significant role in both abiotic and biotic stress and in various plant metabolic activities and pathways. Methods: As of now, no comprehensive research is reported for PERK genes in maize. We have performed a genome wide in-silico analysis and identify twenty-three PERK genes in maize. We performed phylogenetic analysis, sequence logos, motif analysis, promoter analysis, chromosomal and subcellular localization, synteny and expression analysis using RNA seq data under drought stress. We also predict RNA editing sites in mitochondrial and chloroplast genome. Results: Phylogenetic study of PERK genes from eight different plant species divided into four distinct clades. Four subclasses group of ZmPERKs were observed based on domain organization, motif pattern, and phylogenetic analysis. The exon–intron arrangement of the ZmPERK were conserved among members of the same subclasses. In the promoter region different cis-elements were found those were involved in the growth and development, as well as light and stress response. Through gene duplication analysis it was observed that segmental duplications in ZmPERKs played major role in maize evolution. The Ka/Ks ratios indicated that most ZmPERK genes during the evolution have experienced strong purifying selection. The conversion of cytosine (C) to uracil (U) was observed in all predicted editing sites (U). These transitions were mostly based on changes in the first and second codon bases. The in-silico expression analysis of transcriptome data revealed the differential expression of ZmPERK genes in response to drought stress and oil content accumulation. Conclusion: The current study provides base information on the PERK gene family in maize. Our findings can serve as a reference for further functional analysis of ZmPERKs. These genes can be further explored and used in breeding program to develop cultivars resilient to drought stress.

Papaya fruit has a limited shelf life due to its sensitivity to decay and chilling damage during cold storage. The application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is known to reduce the incidence of disease and chilling injury, and to maintain the overall quality of the papaya fruit when stored at low temperature. Consequently, the effects of postharvest MeJA (1 mM) immersion on papaya fruits during low-temperature storage (10 °C ± 2 °C) for 28 days were studied. The experiment revealed that MeJA treatment significantly decreased the papaya fruit’s weight loss, disease incidence, and chilling injury index. Furthermore, the accumulation of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide was markedly lower after the application of MeJA. In addition, MeJA treatment exhibited significantly higher total phenols, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, and titratable acidity in contrast to the control. Similarly, MeJA-treated papaya fruits showed higher antioxidant enzymatic activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase enzymes) with respect to the control fruits. In addition, MeJA reduced the soluble solids content, ripening index, pH, and sugar contents compared to the control fruits. Furthermore, MeJA-treated papaya fruit exhibited higher sensory and organoleptic quality attributes with respect to untreated papaya fruits. These findings suggested that postharvest MeJA application might be a useful approach for attenuating disease incidence and preventing chilling injury by enhancing antioxidant activities along with enhanced overall quality of papaya fruits during low-temperature storage.

Cysteine-rich poly comb-like protein (CPP) is a member of cysteine-rich transcription factors that regulates plant growth and development. In the present work, we characterized twelve CPP transcription factors encoding genes in soybean (Glycine max). Phylogenetic analyses classified CPP genes into six clades. Sequence logos analyses between G. max and G. soja amino acid residues exhibited high conservation. The presence of growth and stress-related cis-acting elements in the upstream regions of GmCPPs highlight their role in plant development and tolerance against abiotic stress. Ka/Ks levels showed that GmCPPs experienced limited selection pressure with limited functional divergence arising from segmental or whole genome duplication events. By using the PAN-genome of soybean, a single nucleotide polymorphism was identified in GmCPP-6. To perform high throughput genotyping, a kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) marker was developed. Association analyses indicated that GmCPP-6-T allele of GmCPP-6 (in exon region) was associated with higher thousand seed weight under both water regimes (well-water and water-limited). Taken together, these results provide vital information to further decipher the biological functions of CPP genes in soybean molecular breeding.

Food security is facing a major threat from salinity and there is a need to develop salt tolerant crop varieties to ensure that the demand for food from the world’s increasing population is met. Salinity mostly occurs in arid and semi-arid regions. It may cause many adverse physiological effects on plants, i.e., toxic ion accumulation, disturbed osmotic potential, and decreased crop yield. The present study aimed to investigate the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and genetic parameters of wheat genotypes under salt stress. Six wheat genotypes were screened for salt tolerance at the seedling and maturity stage. Seeds were sown at 0 and 150 mM of salinity level. Biochemical traits, i.e., shoot/root fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll a/b and total chlorophyll contents, shoot nitrogen, shoot phosphorus, proline, and carbohydrates were measured. Wheat genotypes showed a significant increase in free amino acids, shoot nitrogen, and total soluble proteins under saline conditions. Higher Na+/K+ ratio and free amino acids were estimated under 150 mM NaCl treatment in Pasban-90 and found to be the most salt-tolerant genotype. By contrast, reduced proline, total chlorophyll, and Na+/K+ ratio were found in Kohistan-97 marking it to be sensitive to stress. Expression analysis of HKTs genes was performed to validate the results of two contrasting genotypes. The differential expression of HKT2; 1 and HKT2; 3 explained the tissue and genotype specific epigenetic variations. Our findings indicated that these selected genotypes can be further used for molecular studies to find out QTLs/genes related to salinity. This suggests that, in contrasting wheat genotypes, there is a differentially induced defense response to salt stress, indicating a functional correlation between salt stress tolerance and differential expression pattern in wheat.

The main function of histone protein is to provide support to the structure of chromosomes. It helps in binding a long thread of DNA into a more condensed shape to fit into the nucleus. From histone variants, histone H3 (HH3) plays a crucial role in plant growth and development. Characterization of histones has not been reported in Glycine max till now. The objective of this study was to characterize the HH3 gene family for molecular breeding of G. max. In this study, 17 HH3 members in G. max were identified by performing local BLASTp using HH3 members from Arabidopsis as a query. Phylogenetic analysis classified HH3 genes in seven clades. Sequence logo analysis among Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, and Glycine max showed a higher level of similarity in amino acids. Furthermore, conserveness of G. max HH3 genes was also confirmed by Gene Structure Display. Ten paralogous gene pairs were identified in GmHH3 genes in the Glycine max genome by conducting collinearity analysis. G. max HH3 genes have experienced strong purifying selection pressure, with limited functional divergence originating from the segmental and whole-genome duplication, as evidenced by the Ka/Ks ratio. The KASP marker was developed for GmHH3-3 gene. Genotyping was performed on 46 G. max genotypes. This differentiation was based upon the presence of either GmHH3-3-C or GmHH3-3-T allele in the CDS region. The results showed that G. max accessions containing the GmHH3-3-T allele at respective locus showed higher thousand seed weight than that of those accessions that contain the GmHH3-3-C allele. This research provides the basic information to further decipher the function of HH3 in soybean.

Multi-ovary wheat (three pistil) is a unique germplasm for the seed production of hybrid wheat. The purpose of the present study was to transfer the multi-ovary trait to semi-dwarf plants to increase the production of grains in wheat crops. Therefore, tall, semi-dwarf, and dwarf plants were crossed with plants with the three-pistil trait. A three-pistil tall plant was used as the female parent, while tall (Synthetic hexaploid), semi-dwarf, and dwarf plants were used as male parents. F1 and F2 progenies with parents were planted in 2015-16 using RCBD. The outcome of the crosses showed that multi-ovary tall plants gave significant difference for all five traits (days to maturity, plant height, number of seeds per spike, grain weight per spike, and grain yield per unit area) in both generations. The greatest number of grains per spike and grain yield per unit area were obtained from the cross of three-pistil tall and dwarf parent (P1/P6) in the F1 and F2 generations. The cross also resulted in a significant reduction in height (96 cm). Further heterosis studies conducted with crosses between three-pistil tall and dwarf parent (P1/P6) showed the greatest heterosis and heterobeltiosis for the number of grains per spike (60.0 and 26.19%, respectively) and grain yield per m2 (27.68 and 2.85%, respectively). In the case of grain weight per spike, the heterosis value was also positive and significant (17.7). Meanwhile, for other traits, their values were negative for heterosis and heterobeltiosis. High numbers of grains and grain weight were found to be associated with positive heterobeltiosis and in turn the grain yield per m2, but plant height and maturity had negative affirmation with heterobeltiosis. Heterosis studies also indicated the dominant gene action for the three-pistil trait. Thus, the study clearly signified that grain yield can be increased by using the multi-ovary genotype with the semi-dwarf height. This new germplasm will be helpful for breeders to increase the production of wheat crops in the southern climate of Pakistan.

Manipulation of genes involved in starch synthesis could significantly affect wheat grain weight and yield. The starch-branching enzyme (SBE) catalyzes the formation of branch points by cleaving the α-1,4 linkage in polyglucans and reattaching the chain via an α-1,6 linkage. Three types of SBE isoforms (SBEI, SBEII, and SBEIII) exist in higher plants, with the number of SBE isoforms being species-specific. In this study, the coding sequence of the wheat TaSBEIII gene was amplified. After the multiple sequence alignment of TaSBEIII genome from 20 accessions in a wheat diversity panel, one SNP was observed in TaSBEIII-A, which formed the allelic marker allele-T. Based on this SNP at 294 bp (C/T), a KASP molecular marker was developed to distinguish allelic variation among the wheat genotypes for thousand grain weight (TGW). The results were validated using 262 accessions of mini core collection (MCC) from China, 153 from Pakistan, 53 from CIMMYT, and 17 diploid and 18 tetraploid genotypes. Association analysis between TaSBEIII-A allelic variation and agronomic traits found that TaSBEIII-A was associated with TGW in mini core collection of China (MCC). The accessions possessing Allele-T had higher TGW than those possessing Allele-C; thus, Allele-T was a favorable allelic variation. By analyzing the frequency of the favorable allelic variation Allele-T in MCC, it increased from pre-1950 (25%) to the 1960s (45%) and increased continuously from 1960 to 1990 (80%). The results suggested that the KASP markers can be utilized in grain weight improvement, which ultimately improves wheat yield by marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding. The favorable allelic variation allele-T should be valuable in enhancing grain yield by improving the source and sink simultaneously. Furthermore, the newly developed KASP marker validated in different genetic backgrounds could be integrated into a breeding kit for screening high TGW wheat.

High-throughput genotyping for functional markers offers an excellent opportunity to effectively practice marker-assisted selection (MAS) while breeding cultivars. We developed kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) assays for genes conferring drought tolerance in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In total, 11 KASP assays developed in this study and five already reported assays were used for their application in wheat breeding. We investigated alleles at 16 loci associated with drought tolerance among 153 Pakistani hexaploid wheat cultivars released during 1953–2016; 28 diploid wheat accessions (16 for AA and 12 for BB) and 19 tetraploid wheat (AABB) were used to study the evolutionary history of the studied genes. Superior allelic variations of the studied genes were significantly associated with higher grain yield. Favored haplotypes of TaSnRK2.3-1A, TaSnRK2.3-1B, TaSnRK2.9-5A, TaSAP-7B, and TaLTPs-1A predominated in Pakistani wheat germplasm indicating unconscious pyramiding and selection pressure on favorable haplotypes during selection breeding. TaSnRK2.8-5A, TaDreb-B1, 1-feh w3, TaPPH-7A, TaMOC-7A, and TaPARG-2A had moderate to low frequencies of favorable haplotype among Pakistani wheat germplasm pointing toward introgression of favorable haplotypes by deploying functional markers in marker-assisted breeding. The KASP assays were compared with gel-based markers for reliability and phenotypically validated among 62 Pakistani wheat cultivars. Association analyses showed that the favorable allelic variations were significantly associated with grain yield-contributing traits. The developed molecular marker toolkit of the genes can be instrumental for the wheat breeding in Pakistan.

Vascular plant one-zinc-finger (VOZ) transcription factors regulate plant growth and development under drought conditions. Six VOZ transcription factors encoding genes exist in soybean genome (both in Glycine max and Glycine soja). Herein, GmVOZs and GsVOZs were identified through in silico analysis and characterized with different bioinformatics tools and expression analysis. Phylogenetic analysis classified VOZ genes in four groups. Sequence logos analysis among G. max and G. soja amino acid residues revealed higher conservation. Presence of stress related cis-elements in the upstream regions of GmVOZs and GsVOZs highlights their role in tolerance against abiotic stresses. The collinearity analysis identified 14 paralogous/orthologous gene pairs within and between G. max and G. soja. The Ka/Ks values showed that soybean VOZ genes underwent selection pressure with limited functional deviation arising from whole genome and segmental duplication. The GmVOZs and GsVOZs were found to express in roots and leaves at seedling stage. The qRT-PCR revealed that GmVOZs and GsVOZs transcripts can be regulated by abiotic stresses such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). The findings of this study will provide a reference to decipher physiological and molecular functions of VOZ genes in soybean.

Cereal crops have starch in their endosperm, which has provided calories to humans and livestock since the dawn of civilization to the present day. Starch is one of the important biological factors which is contributing to the yield of cereal crops. Starch is synthesized by different enzymes, but starch structure and amount are mainly determined by the activities of starch synthase enzymes (SS) with the involvement of starch branching enzymes (SBEs) and debranching enzymes (DBEs). Six classes of SSs are found in Arabidopsis and are designated as soluble SSI-V, and non-soluble granule bound starch synthase (GBSS). Soluble SSs are important for starch yield considering their role in starch biosynthesis in cereal crops, and the activities of these enzymes determine the structure of starch and the physical properties of starch granules. One of the unique characteristics of starch structure is elongated glucan chains within amylopectin, which is by SSs through interactions with other starch biosynthetic enzymes (SBEs and DBEs). Additionally, soluble SSs also have conserved domains with phosphorylation sites that may be involved in regulating starch metabolism and formation of heteromeric SS complexes. This review presents an overview of soluble SSs in cereal crops and includes their functional and structural characteristics in relation to starch synthesis.

Intellectual disability (ID) or Mental Retardation (MR) is a broad term, which occupies several medical directions. It is extremely heterogeneous and has about reported 25,000 genes of which half of the genes expression have been found in the brain. Intellectual disability causes severe disability and has a worldwide prevalence ofaround 2% while autosomal recessive form of ID causes almost 25% of all non syndromic (NS) ID cases. A consanguineous family (who will be referred as) MR7 with phenotype of ID was sampled in Swat region of Pakistan.All affected individuals in the family were observed having a low IQ and cognitive mutilation with no sign of biochemical, skeletal or neurological abnormalities. Continou....

Softwood cuttings of gola variety of guava were successfully rooted by quick dip method of dipping the basal ends of the cuttings in mixture of indole-3-butyric acid in low tunnel under shady situation. The treated lots in every instance had a greater percentage of rooted cuttings with a higher number of roots per cutting as produced by control. Cuttings were dipped for 5 s in mixture of 0, 2000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 ppm of IBA. The data showed a significant positive effect of different IBA concentrations on the guava establishment. The rooted soft wood cuttings were assessed for days to sprout, sprouted cuttings, sprouting percent, average number of roots per cuttings, average root length and survival percent. In present studies among all the IBA concentration, IBA (4000 ppm) showed highest results in terms of days to sprout (22.00), sprouted cuttings (40.11), sprouting percent (68.22), average number of roots per cutting (31.65), average root length (31.65) and survival percent (57.82) respectively. In absence of indole-3-butyric acid treatment, cuttings had not rooted. We suggest that the use of softwood cuttings tested associated to indole-3-butyric acid as quick dip for 5s may be beneficial to commercial propagators with well-developed root system. The development of healthier plants after hardening under in vivo conditions showed that guava could be effectively propagated by this cheapest and soft wood cuttings technique.

The present study was conducted to find out an in vitro efficient method for multiple shoot regeneration of two local chickpea varieties. The mature embryos were excised of two chickpea varieties i.e. Bittle-98 and Dasht-2000 (with cotyledon and without cotyledon) used as explants. The explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with three concentrations of (2, 3, 4 mg/l) 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) using explant with and without cotyledon. Further, 0.5 mg/l α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) along with varied concentrations of BAP (2, 3, 4 mg/ l) was also tested using explant with cotyledon. 3 mg/l BAP alone and 3 mg/l BAP with 0.5 mg/l NAA were found the most effective cytokinin in multiple shoot induction in both tested varieties. Bittle-98 and Dasht-2000 showed 82% and 76% elongation in shoots induction with 0.2 mg/l Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Root formation was recorded 80% and 60% in Bittle-98 and Dasht-2000 with 1.0 mg/l Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Whereas, recorded root formation was 40 and 20% in Bittle-98 and Dasht-2000 with 1.0 mg/l NAA. The best response for rooting observed in Bittle-98 as its roots were thick, long and strong. Plantlets of Bittle-98 were acclimatized in solid medium for 7-14 days. The successful invitro regeneration of Bittle-98 was observed, when excised embryo with cotyledon were used as explant, made it valuable for genetic transformation.

Interrogations of local germplasm and landraces can offer a foundation and genetic basis for drought tolerance in wheat. Potential of drought tolerance in a panel of 30 wheat genotypes including varieties, local landraces, and wild crosses were explored under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. Considerable variation for an osmotic adjustment (OA) and yield components, coupled with genotype and environment interaction was observed, which indicates the differential potential of wheat genotypes under both conditions. Reduction in yield per plant (YP), thousand kernel weight (TKW), and induction of OA was detected. Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association of YP with directly contributing yield components under both environments, indicating the impotence of these traits as a selection-criteria for the screening of drought-tolerant genotypes for drylands worldwide. Subsequently, the association of OA with TKW which contributes directly to YP, indicates that wheat attains OA to extract more water from the soil under low water-potential. Genotypes including WC-4, WC-8 and LLR-29 showed more TKW under both conditions, among them; LLR-29 also has maximum OA and batter yield comparatively. Result provides insight into the role of OA in plant yield sustainability under DS. In this study, we figure out the concept of OA and its incredible role in sustainable plant yield in wheat.

Faisalabad city is surrounded by agricultural lands, where farmers are growing vegetables, grain crops, and fodder for auto-consumption and local marketing. To study the socioeconomic impact and resource use in these urban and peri-urban agricultural production (UPA) systems, a baseline survey was conducted during 2009–2010. A total of 140 households were selected using a stratified sampling method and interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The results revealed that 96 % of the households rely on agriculture as their main occupation. Thirty percent of the households were owners of the land and the rest cultivated either rented or sharecropped land. Most of the families (70 %) were headed by a member with primary education, and only 10 % of the household head had a secondary school certificate. Irrigationwater was obtained from waste water (37 %), canals (27 %), and mixed alternative sources (36 %). A total of 35 species were cultivated in the UPA systems of which were 65% vegetables, 15% grain and fodder crops, and 5% medicinal plants. Fifty-nine percent of the households cultivated wheat, mostly for auto-consumption. The 51 % of the respondents grew cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.) and gourds (Cucurbitaceae) in the winter and summer seasons, respectively. Group marketing was uncommon and most of the farmers sold their produce at the farm gate (45 %) and on local markets (43 %). Seeds and fertilizers were available from commission agents and dealers on a credit basis with the obligation to pay by harvested produce. A major problem reported by the UPA farmers of Faisalabad was the scarcity of high quality irrigation water, especially during the hot dry summer months, in addition to lacking adequate quantities of mineral fertilizers and other inputs during sowing time. Half of the respondents estimated their daily income to be less than 1.25 US$ and spent almost half of it on food. Monthly average household income and expenses were 334 and 237 US$, respectively.

Wheat is an important food crop grown worldwide and used as staple food in many countries. Its production is affected by several factors including abiotic stresses and drought is one of the most damaging and frequently occurring abiotic stresses. Several efforts have been made to address and cope with it at morphological, physiological and molecular levels, have been summarized. Different morphological and physiological traits identified through successive efforts include osmotic adjustment, cell membrane stability and stomatal conductance and showed positive correlation with drought tolerance. Some quantitative trait loci have also been discovered in wheat genome on chromosome 4A that showed significant association with this mechanism. Proteomic and gene functional analysis revealed the genes involved in vital biological pathways (e.g., reactive oxygen species scavenging, etc.) and showed significant correlation with drought tolerance. Therefore, the information generated through both the QTLs and gene functional analysis could be utilized to achieve drought tolerance in wheat.