Introgression of Heat- and Drought-Adaptive Diversity into Wheat Breeding Programs from Senegal

• Cereal: Wheat
• Abiotic Stressor: Heat and Drought
• Principal Investigator: Amadou Tidiane Sall, Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA-CERAAS)

Working to help wheat survive increasing heat and drought stress, this effort focuses on identifying and integrating adaptive genetic variation into breeding-relevant germplasm for Senegal. Wheat production in these regions is constrained by high temperatures and water limitation, with future environment projections indicating further intensification of these stresses. This collaboration brings together national breeding programs with global partners to evaluate diverse wheat germplasm and identify alleles associated with improved performance under target production environments.

Multi-environment field trials are being conducted using a diverse wheat panel, combined with high-throughput phenotyping approaches spectral indices, and grain quality assessment through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). These phenotypic datasets are integrated with existing genotypic data to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and train genomic selection (GS) models to identify marker-trait associations for heat and drought tolerance. Prioritized loci will be converted into breeder-friendly markers, and selected germplasm will be used to develop recombinant inbred line populations through speed breeding to support validation and refinement of trait-associated regions.

Resulting outputs include validated markers, genomic prediction models, and characterized germplasm adapted to heat- and drought-prone environments. In parallel, the project strengthens capacity through training in genomic analysis, phenotyping technologies, and data-driven breeding approaches, enabling sustained use of these tools to support allele discovery, validation, and integration into breeding pipelines.