Morphological, Physiological, Biochemical and Molecular Response of Barley (H. Vulgare L.) to Water Deficiency

Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the earliest cultivated cereals and a foundational crop of ancient agriculture. After rice, maize, and wheat, barley is the fourth most widely cultivated cereal crop in the world. It is cultivated in numerous developed and developing nations, where it frequently faces severe drought stress. Every year, droughts afflict the entire planet, frequently with catastrophic effects on crop production. Many crop modification projects have primarily targeted on the enhancement of drought resistance. However, progress toward this objective has been modest due to complexity of the trait, variability and unpredictability of the drought conditions in the field, and diversified drought tolerance mechanisms employed by plants. Barley is regarded as the most drought-resistant grain crop. It serves as an uncomplicated genetic model for studying drought tolerance mechanisms along with the associated agronomic and physiological traits. Several morphological, physiological, biochemical, molecular and quality traits were identified from various barley varieties and used to improve performance under drought stress. The present report is a comprehensive review that intends to give morphological, physiological, biochemical and genomic insights into the modulation of drought stress responses in barley and provide a thorough picture of drought tolerance mechanism.