Integrating Genetic and Metabolic Approaches to Uncover Heat Stress Tolerance in Wheat

Wheat, scientifically known as Triticum aestivum , belongs to the Poaceae family. Pakistan aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat production, but the increasing temperature has presented a huge challenge in the form of heat stress. The objective of this study was to characterize wheat genotypes those exhibit heat-tolerance and evaluate the impact of heat stress on metabolic processes. Wheat plants were exposed to high temperatures and phenotypic assessments were performed in a controlled environment. The study was aimed to predict the role of DREB genes associated with heat-tolerance, to investigate interaction and regulatory networks between these DREB and other stress tolerance genes using Bioinformatics techniques. Metabolic profile of wheat was generated using HPLC for significant metabolites related to heat stress were found. The identification of heat tolerance genes and wheat lines possessing more heat tolerance will be used in breeding resources to develop climate-resilient varieties.