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REVIEW
Contents Vol 45(11)

Improving salt tolerance of wheat and barley: future prospects

T. D. Colmer A B E , R. Munns A C and T. J. Flowers B D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity.

B School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

D School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 9QG, UK.

E Corresponding author. Email: tdcolmer@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(11) 1425-1443 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04162
Submitted: 2 August 2004  Accepted: 8 March 2005   Published: 16 December 2005

Abstract

Cropping on saline land is restricted by the low tolerance of crops to salinity and waterlogging. Prospects for improving salt tolerance in wheat and barley include the use of: (i) intra-specific variation, (ii) variation for salt tolerance in the progenitors of these cereals, (iii) wide-hybridisation with halophytic ‘wild’ relatives (an option for wheat, but not barley), and (iv) transgenic techniques. In this review, key traits contributing to salt tolerance, and sources of variation for these within the Triticeae, are identified and recommendations for use of these traits in screening for salt tolerance are summarised. The potential of the approaches to deliver substantial improvements in salt tolerance is discussed, and the importance of adverse interactions between waterlogging and salinity are emphasised. The potential to develop new crops from the diverse halophytic flora is also considered.

Additional keywords: breeding, chloride, genetics, halophyte, Hordeum, potassium, salinity, sodium, transgenic, Triticum, waterlogging, ‘wild’ relatives.


Acknowledgments

TDC and RM thank the Grains Research and Development Corporation for funding research in their laboratories on salt tolerance in wheat. TJF thanks the University of Western Australia for providing support as ‘Visiting Professor’ in the School of Plant Biology. Research on salt tolerant crops in the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity is in collaboration with Alaina Garthwaite, Rafiq Islam, and Roland von Bothmer.


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1 ECe means saturated soil paste extract. In Australia, most soil EC determinations use 1:5 (soil:water, w/v) extracts; approximate conversion factors for EC1:5 to ECe are 13 for sandy soils, decreasing to 7 for clayey soils (Rogers et al. 2005). At 20°C, 10 mmol NaCl/L has an EC of 1.0 dS/m, 100 mmol NaCl/L an EC of 9.6 dS/m, 500 mmol NaCl/L an EC of 42 dS/m, and ocean water an EC of about 50 dS/m (Munns 2005).