Modern Methods for The Comprehensive Assessment of Physiological-Biochemical Traits, Seed Quality and Oil Productivity in The Drought Adaptation of Soybean Genotypes
Abstract
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is one of the world's major sources of protein and vegetable oil, while its yield and seed quality are highly sensitive to water deficit. The effects of drought are not limited to yield reduction; drought also alters leaf water status, gas exchange, the photosynthetic apparatus, oxidative stress, osmotic adjustment, antioxidant defense, root architecture, seed protein and oil contents, and the fatty acid profile. The aim of this review is to systematize physiological, biochemical, seed-quality, molecular-genetic, and high-throughput phenotyping methods used for the comprehensive assessment of drought adaptation in soybean genotypes. In modern approaches, selection based on a single trait is insufficient; greater precision can be achieved by integrating relative water content, leaf water potential, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, proline, malondialdehyde and antioxidant enzymes with NIR-based protein and oil analysis, gas-chromatographic fatty acid profiling, qRT-PCR/RNA-seq, GWAS, metabolomics, UAV multispectral imaging, and machine-learning methods. Analysis of the literature indicates that the most appropriate strategy for identifying drought-tolerant genotypes is the joint evaluation of yield retention under stress, physiological stability, and seed-quality traits.
Keywords
References
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