Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences http://www.jebas.org ISSN No. 2320 – 8694 Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences, June - 2017; Volume – 5(3) EVALUATING DROUGHT RESISTANT WHEAT CULTIVARS BASED ON STEM ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS Maryam ABBASI 1* , Elham FAGHANI 2 , Ali HOSSIEN KHANI 3 , Mohammad Hosein RAZZAGHI 4 1 Department of Biology, College of Basic Sciences, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 2 Cotton research institute agricultural research, Education and extension organization (areoo), Gorgan, Iran 3 Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Young Researchers and Elite Club,, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of a Agricultural engineering research, Golestan agriculture and natural resources, agricultural research , education and extension organization (areeo), Gorgan, Iran. Received – February 13, 2017; Revision – May 21, 2017; Accepted – June 07, 2017 Available Online – June 30, 2017 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18006/2017.5(3).332.340 ABSTRACT Water stressed have vital effect on the various anatomical, physiological and bio-chemical processes, which are controlled by genetic and prevailing environment. In present study, 25 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, which have been released over 40 years in Iran, were evaluated in terms of stem physiological and anatomical changes at Iran Agricultural Research Station. During growing season data were collected and finally crop was harvested in June and various anatomical aspects like Thickness of stem (TS), Thickness of fiber (TF), Tangential dimension of collenchymas cells (TDC), Tangential dimension of vascular bundle (TDVB), Radial dimension of vascular bundle (RDVB), Radial dimension of big xylem vessel (RDBXV), Tangential dimension of phloem bundle (TDPB), Distance between vascular bundle to Epidermis (DBVBE), Thickness of epidermal cell (TE) that are integral part of drought resistance were studied. Predominantly drought resistant genotypes were recorded with anatomical aspects which play major role in imparting drought resistance. Among the studied 25 genotypes, genotype number 7, 21 and 25 showed maximum drought resistance characteristics collectively and these can be used as parent cultivars for future breeding programs. KEYWORDS Triticum aestivum Anatomy Drought resistance Iran * Corresponding author E-mail: mar.abasi@iauctb.ac.ir (Maryam ABBASI) Peer review under responsibility of Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences. All the article published by Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License Based on a work at www.jebas.org. Production and Hosting by Horizon Publisher India [HPI] (http://www.horizonpublisherindia.in/). All rights reserved.