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Characterizing and screening of wheat genotypes under salinity stress condition using thermography and multivariate
Koushik Banerjee1,2, Prameela Krishnan3, Arvind Kumar4
1ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Scientific Reports
|November 10, 2025
Summary
A new Normalized Salinity Stress Tolerance Index (NSSTI) effectively screens wheat genotypes for salt tolerance. This index, using thermal imaging and bio-physiological data, identifies tolerant varieties crucial for breeding programs facing increasing soil salinization.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Plant Physiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Soil salinization and climate change pose significant threats to global wheat production.
- Identifying salt-tolerant wheat genotypes is critical for maintaining crop yield in affected regions.
- Existing screening methods may not fully capture complex salinity stress responses in wheat.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize and screen the salinity tolerance of 25 wheat genotypes under field conditions.
- To develop a novel screening index (NSSTI) integrating thermal imaging and bio-physiological parameters.
- To evaluate the efficacy of NSSTI in classifying wheat genotypes based on their salt tolerance.
Main Methods:
- Monitoring 25 wheat genotypes under saline irrigation using thermography (CWSI, IG) and bio-physiological measurements (Pn, LAI, NDVI, RWC, MSI, OP, Na, K).
- Development of the Normalized Salinity Stress Tolerance Index (NSSTI) through multivariate analysis (PCA, HCA, DA).
- Validation of NSSTI classification accuracy using Discriminant Analysis (DA).
Main Results:
- NSSTI successfully classified 25 wheat genotypes into tolerant (6), moderate (16), and sensitive (3) categories with high DA accuracy (92-100%).
- Thermal indices (CWSI, IG) and bio-physiological parameters (transpiration rate, RWC, OP, NDVI, Pn) effectively differentiated tolerant from sensitive genotypes.
- NSSTI demonstrated strong correlations with wheat yield (0.76-0.84) and biomass (0.73-0.82), confirming its utility in salt tolerance evaluation.
Conclusions:
- The developed NSSTI is a reliable and effective tool for screening wheat genotypes for salinity tolerance under field conditions.
- Key bio-physiological traits and thermal indices identified in this study are valuable for breeding salt-tolerant wheat varieties.
- NSSTI has the potential to significantly aid in the selection of superior wheat genotypes for enhanced crop resilience.
