A dataset on multi-trait selection approaches for screening desirable wild relatives of wheat.

Wild relatives of common wheat are an extraordinary source of tolerance to various environmental stresses. The dataset herein presents the effect of water-deficit stress on a core collection of landraces and wild relatives of wheat (including 180 samples belonging to four Triticum and eight Aegilops species [T. boeoticum Bioss., T. urartu Gandilyan., T. durum Def., T. aestivum L., Ae. speltoides Tausch., Ae. tauschii Coss., Ae. caudata L., Ae. umbellulata Zhuk., Ae. neglecta L., Ae. cylindrica Host., Ae. crassa Boiss., and Ae. triuncialis]) in terms of several physiological traits, root and shoot biomasses, and features of root system architecture (RSA). All genetic materials were subjected to water-stress treatment using a pot experiment under greenhouse conditions. To screen the most tolerant accessions, three selection indices, such as Smith and Hazel (SH), factor analysis and ideotype-design (FAI), and the multi-trait genotype-ideotype distance index (MGIDI) were computed. The obtained data can highlight the role of some features of RSA in increasing water-deficit tolerance in some wild relatives of wheat. Moreover, the use of selection indices in the early stage of growth can be highlighted for future research.