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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A locus for sodium exclusion (Nax1), a trait for salt tolerance, mapped in durum wheat

Megan P. Lindsay A , Evans S. Lagudah A , Ray A. Hare B and Rana Munns A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

B NSW Agriculture, RMB 944, Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: rana.munns@csiro.au

Functional Plant Biology 31(11) 1105-1114 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04111
Submitted: 24 June 2004  Accepted: 17 September 2004   Published: 18 November 2004

Abstract

Salinity affects durum wheat [Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum (Desf.)] more than it affects bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and results in lower yield for durum wheat cultivars grown on salt-affected soils. A novel source of salt tolerance in the form of a sodium exclusion trait, identified previously in a screen of tetraploid wheat germplasm, was mapped using a QTL approach. The trait, measured as low Na+ concentration in the leaf blade, was mapped on a population derived from a cross between the low Na+ landrace and the cultivar Tamaroi. The use of AFLP, RFLP and microsatellite markers identified a locus, named Nax1 (Na exclusion), on chromosome 2AL, which accounted for approximately 38% of the phenotypic variation in the mapping population. Markers linked to the Nax1 locus also associated closely with low Na+ progeny in a genetically unrelated population. A microsatellite marker closely linked to the Nax1 locus was validated in genetically diverse backgrounds, and proven to be useful for marker-assisted selection in a durum wheat breeding program.

Keywords: microsatellite marker, salinity, QTL.


Acknowledgments

We thank Richard James for developing germplasm stocks and breeding lines and for the phenotype data for the Tamaroi × Line 149 cross, Shazia Husain for the phenotype data and DNA from the Line 141 × Line 149 cross, and Lorraine Mason for Na+ analyses by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The study was funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).


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