Recent Advances in Multi-Omics and Breeding Approaches Towards Drought Tolerance in Crops

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect plant growth and survival. It alters morphological, biochemical, and molecular processes in plant cells. The implementation of multi-omics and improved breeding strategies is a dynamic step towards drought tolerance in crop plants. The identification of several drought-responsive genes, differentially expressed transcripts, proteins, metabolites, and miRNAs associated with drought responses has become possible through genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, micromics, and phenomics, etc. Investigations on the latest omics technologies will provide us with an overall idea of the pathways involved in drought tolerance. Additionally, GWAS and QTL mapping have made an impressive contribution to improving plant responses to water-deficit conditions. This chapter discussed how various omics tools and breeding technologies enable plants to withstand the devastating effects of drought stress.