Drought resistance variety identification and index selection of winter wheat at seedling stage in Hebei province

In this study,29 winter wheat varieties released in Hebei province were used to analyze drought resistance at seedling stage by hydroponic culture with-0.5MP PEG-6000 treatment.Twenty morphological and physiological drought resistance-related traits were studied by principal component and clustering analysis to evaluate the variety drought resistance,and to select the suitable index by stepwise regression and path analysis.The results showed that all the winter wheat varieties were divided into three groups according to their drought resistance and wheat varieties with high drought resistance were 'Zhongmai 175','Shiluan 02-1','Shimai 12','Shimai 15','Hengyou 18' and 'Gaoyou 9908'.The multiple linear regression equation was found by the drought resistance coefficient(DRC) of single index and the comprehensive value of drought resistance.Seven traits(root fresh weight,leaf length,Chla/b,total dry weight,relative water content,root/shoot fresh weight and maximum root length) were selected for their significant influence on the drought resistance of winter wheat varieties,and they could be used to identify wheat drought resistance at seedling stage.