Résumé
In order to efficiently screen drought resistant varieties from a large scale of ses-ame germplasm, key traits were identified in this study. Six varieties with different drought resistance levels were submitted to a repeated drought stress experiment followed by rehydration phases at seedling stage. Results revealed that 'ZZM5396', 'ZZM1446' and'ZZM0635' showed highest drought resistance features by phenotypic, physiological and biochemical detection. Peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities, photosynthetic rate (Photo), root and stem dry matters are indices for drought resistance screening in sesame. Our results from seedling stage were consistent with that from germination stage, despite the fact that 'ZZM1446' appeared to be superior under drought at seedling stage. The iden-tified genotypes may be useful for breeding towards drought resistance and relevant molec-ular analysis in sesame.