Preliminary evaluation of gas-exchange parameters as drought tolerance indicators for phenotyping durum wheat genotypes

Durum wheat is a rain-fed crop mainly cultivated in the Mediterranean basin and threatened by climate change. In particular, drought stress is one of the major constraints that can negatively affect crops production worldwide. In the present study we characterized drought stress responses in a set of durum wheat genotypes by combining plant growth parameters analysed using a plant phenotyping platform, with physiological parameters derived from gas-exchange measurements, namely exchanges of CO 2 , water vapor, and profile of emitted Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), in order to develop new programs for precision agriculture.