Assessment of heterotic root and shoot traits of bread wheat seedlings under peg-induced drought

The phenotyping of desirable root and shoot traits is easier at early stages of development and can reveal drought-tolerance potential. A total of 11 genotypes from the collection of 101 bread wheat genotypes, with desirable traits in terms of increased tolerance to drought, were chosen for parents (P) and eight crosses were performed. The objective of this research was to determine heterotic root and shoot traits among nine traits evaluated in 19 bread wheat genotypes from P and F1 generations at the seedling stage, grown in hydroponic cultivation under PEG-induced drought stress and under control conditions. These two generations differed the most in mean values of distance to the first branch on the primary root and in angle of seminal roots, under control conditions, and in mean values of primary root length (PRL), number of seminal roots (NSR), stem length (SL), under induced drought stress. The F1 progeny was heterotic for PRL, NSR, SL, and these traits could have contributed to its greater tolerance to drought.