{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T06:28:22Z","timestamp":1786429702137,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100013203","name":"Montana Wheat and Barley Committee","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MWBC 23-E-462, MWBC 24-E-462"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MWBC 23-E-462, MWBC 24-E-462"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100013203","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hail-induced yield loss threatens wheat-based food security across the globe, yet hail damage has largely remained unexplored as a quantifiable breeding phenotype. The present investigation provides insight from the variation observed in winter wheat breeding lines after a significant hail event in 2024. This investigation demonstrates that hail-induced mechanical damage and associated grain yield loss retain substantial heritable components with high entry-level (grain yield: 74.65%; hail damage score: 61.52%) and moderate plot-level heritability (grain yield: 59.30%; hail damage score: 43.49%). Grain yield exhibited moderate and significant negative correlation (r = -0.57) with hail damage score. Putative loci associated with hail response were identified across ten chromosomes of hexaploid wheat, delineated into seven quantitative trait loci. These quantitative trait loci largely co-localized with previously reported loci associated with stem strength, lodging, and spike architecture-related traits. Functional annotation further revealed enrichment of candidate genes belonging to functional categories with potential roles in stem and spike morphology, supporting a plausible biological basis for genetic variation in hail response in wheat. Together, these findings suggest hail damage as a genetically tractable polygenic trait, providing a foundation for incorporating physical resilience directly into wheat improvement programs to enhance resilience in wheat production system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1904031","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T05:40:26Z","timestamp":1786426826000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can we breed hail-resilient wheat? 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