Genetics of Na+ exclusion and salinity tolerance in Afghani durum wheat landraces

Nawar Jalal Shamaya, Yuri Shavrukov, Peter Langridge, Stuart John Roy, Mark Tester

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24 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background: Selecting for low concentration of Na+ in the shoot provides one approach for tackling salinity stress that adversely affects crop production. Novel alleles for Na+ exclusion can be identified and then introduced into elite crop cultivars. Results: We have identified loci associated with lower Na+ concentration in leaves of durum wheat landraces originating from Afghanistan. Seedlings of two F2 populations derived from crossings between Australian durum wheat (Jandaroi) and two Afghani landraces (AUS-14740 and AUS-14752) were grown hydroponically and evaluated for Na+ and K+ concentration in the third leaf. High heritability was found for both third leaf Na+ concentration and the K+/Na+ ratio in both populations. Further work focussed on line AUS-14740. Bulk segregant analysis using 9 K SNP markers identified two loci significantly associated with third leaf Na+ concentration. Marker regression analysis showed a strong association between all traits studied and a favourable allele originating from AUS-14740 located on the long arm of chromosome 4B. Conclusions: The candidate gene in the relevant region of chromosome 4B is likely to be the high affinity K+ transporter B1 (HKT1;5-B1). A second locus associated with third leaf Na+ concentration was located on chromosome 3BL, with the favourable allele originating from Jandaroi; however, no candidate gene can be identified.

Original languageEnglish
Article number209
Number of pages8
JournalBMC Plant Biology
Volume17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Keywords

  • Bulk Segregant analysis
  • HKT1;5
  • K/Na ratio
  • Leaf Na concentration
  • Salinity tolerance
  • SNP markers

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