A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk Here we used a combination of chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange and gene expression 21 analysis, to aid our understanding of the basis of the physiological responses of wheat 22 seedlings under drought conditions to sedaxane, a novel SDHI seed treatment. We show that 23 sedaxane increased the efficiency of PSII photochemistry, reduced non-photochemical 24 quenching and improved the photosynthesis and biomass in wheat correlating with systemic 25 changes in the expression of genes involved in defense, chlorophyll synthesis and cell wall 26 modification. We applied a coexpression network-based approach using differentially 27 expressed genes of leaves, roots and pregerminated seeds from our wheat array datasets to 28 identify the most important hub genes, with top ranked correlation (higher gene association 29 value and z-score) involved in cell wall expansion and strengthening, wax and pigment 30 biosynthesis and defense. The results indicate that sedaxane confers tolerant responses of 31 wheat plants grown under drought conditions by redirecting metabolites from defense/stress 32 responses towards growth and adaptive development. 33 34