Abioticstress such as drought is a potential threat posing a severe challenge to wheat production across the globe. The current study comparatively delineated the performance of elite Pakistani bread wheat genotypes at physiological (chlorophyll, canopy temperature, cell membrane percentage stability and leaf relative water content), agronomic (plant height, tillers plant⁻¹, flag leaf area, spike length, spikelets spike⁻¹, grains spike⁻¹, grain yield spike⁻¹, thousand grain weight and plant biomass) and genetic (TaDREB1A, TaGROS-A, TaLEA3, TaHSFA1a, TaWRKY44 and TaEXPA2) levels. Atri-replicate experiment was conducted in a two factorial arrangement using RCBD, and data were analyzed statistically using the computer-based programsStatistix8.1 and R-studio. In general, all wheat genotypes illustrated significant (p ≤ 0.05) alterations in physiological and agronomic traits under drought stress as compared to the control; however, this alteration was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different among all genotypes owing to their varying genetic potential. Furthermore, these genotypes were evaluated for the extent of the association of physiological and agronomic traits using PCA, correlation and heatmap analysis, which proved statistically significant variation in the paired association of traits among all genotypes during drought stress as compared to the control. In addition, based on statistical evaluations, the genotypes Pakistan-13, Shahkar-13, AAS-11, Chakwal-86, Chakwal-50 and AUR-09 were found to be tolerant, while genotypes Anmol-97, Chakwal-97, Bhakkar-02 and BWP-97 were comparatively susceptible. Furthermore, these screened genotypes showed differential expression of drought-related genes, with relatively high expression in tolerant genotypes compared to susceptible genotypes. The current study concluded that physiological, agronomic and molecular characteristics are significantly interconnected, and these associations determine the end productivity of wheat genotypes during abiotic stress. Therefore, their integrated study can enhance the pace of wheat breeding for drought tolerance in the near future.

Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) disease is one of the major limiting factors in cotton production, particularly in widely cultivated Gossypium hirsutum varieties that are susceptible to attack by this virus. Several approaches have been employed to explore putative resistance genes in another cotton species, G. arboreum. However, the exact mechanisms conferring disease resistance in cotton are still unknown. In the current study, we used various approaches to identify possible resistance genes against CLCuV infection. We report the identification and isolation of a set of genes involved in the resistance response to viral infestation. PCR products containing genomic DNA gave multiple amplifications with a single primer in most reactions, and 38 fragments were cloned from G. arboreum and G. hirsutum. The sequences of cloned fragments belonged to various pathway genes and uncharacterized proteins. However, five amplified fragments (RM1, RM6, RM8, RM12 and RM31) showed similarity with R genes. Maximum homology (94 %) was observed with G. raimondii toll/interleukin receptor-like protein. BLAST search showed the homology of all resistance gene analogues (RGAs) with more than one chromosome, and multiple hits were observed on each chromosome for each RGA. Expression analysis through RT–PCR identified variable expression levels of the different RGAs in all tested genotypes. The expression level of RGAs differed between symptomatic and asymptomatic plants, with the exception of RGA 395, whose expression level was the same in both diseased and healthy plants. Knowledge of the interaction of these genes with various cotton pathogens could be utilized to improve the resistance of susceptible G. hirsutum and other plant species.