Barley with improved drought tolerance: Challenges and perspectives

There is a pressing need to improve climate-resilient crops as a consequence of increasingly erratic climatic behavior that threatens global food security. Current scientific efforts aim to elucidate the complex mechanisms behind drought resistance in cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L ssp. vulgare). To develop new cultivars with enhanced tolerance to drought and ensure the well-being of the crop under adverse conditions. Understanding the impact of water stress on barley plants is a complex challenge due to the involvement of redundant regulatory pathways governed by multiple genes. Many of these pathways and associated major or genes controlling various morphological and physiological responses to drought at various stages of plant growth. Hence, a broad understanding of such molecular regulation is a key to developing barley cultivars with superior drought tolerance. In addition, changing breeding procedures to accommodate screening for drought responses is a major step. Justification of such changes should be based on expected outcomes. Our current understanding of drought regulatory pathways points out that improvement at both water extraction and its utilization are needed to elevate final yields under water deficit conditions. The current review is an in-depth review, that aims to develop a complete picture of the drought tolerance mechanisms in barley and to provide insights into the manipulation of drought stress responses in barley.