Tritordeum, barley landraces and ear photosynthesis are key players in cereal resilience under future extreme drought conditions

Summary

• Barley landraces and tritordeum are valuable germplasm under extreme drought. • Linear mixed-effects models allow to integrate physiological and agronomical data. • The grain set maintenance of these germplasm is presented as key agronomical trait. • Leaf and ear greenness at reproductive stage stand out as key players. • Overall, the ear photosynthetic and resilience capacity outperformed the leaves one. Drought is the main factor limiting cereal production in the Mediterranean basin and Climate Change will exacerbate its effects. Among the strategies to mitigate Climate Change impact on cereal production, we highlight the development of drought-resilient crops better adapted to future extreme conditions, either by i) using heritage germplasm (e.g., landraces) or ii) developing novel sp