Agricultural News
Salt Tolerance in New Wheat Variety Increases Durum Yields 25 Percent
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:08:23 CDT
Crop scientists in Australia have bred salt tolerance into a new variety of durum wheat, increasing yields by 25 percent in salty soils.
The scientists from the University of Adelaide used non-GM crop breeding techniques to introduce the gene into commercial durum wheat. The results, researchers say, has been nothing short of spectacular.
"This work is significant as salinity already affects over 20% of the world's agricultural soils, and salinity poses an increasing threat to food production due to climate change," Dr. Rana Munns says.
The results were published March 11 in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Dr. Matthew Gilliham, the team's chief researcher says: "Salinity is a particular issue in the prime wheat-growing areas of Australia, the world's second-largest wheat exporter after the United States. With global population estimated to reach nine billion by 2050, and the demand for food expected to rise by 100% in this time, salt-tolerant crops will be an important tool to ensure future food security."
One of the problems with future food security, the researchers say, is that domestication and breeding has narrowed the gene pool of modern wheat, leaving it susceptible to environmental stress. Durum wheat, used for making such food products as pasta and couscous, is particularly susceptible to soil salinity.
The study's authors realized that wild relatives of modern-day wheat varieties remain a significant source of genes for a wide range of traits. Why not salt tolerance? The researchers located a salt-tolerant gene in triticum monococcum.
"The salt-tolerant gene (known as TmHKT1;5-A) works by excluding sodium from the leaves. It produces a protein that removes the sodium from the cells lining the xylem, which are the 'pipes' plants use to move water from their roots to their leaves," Gilliham says.
Dr. Richard James, who led the field trials, says: "While most studies only look at performance under controlled conditions in a laboratory or greenhouse, this is the first study to confirm that the salt-tolerant gene increases yields on a farm with saline soils.
Field trials were conducted at a variety of sites across Australia, including a commercial farm in northern New South Wales.
"Importantly, there was no yield penalty with this gene," James says.
"Under standard conditions, the wheat containing the salt-tolerance gene performed the same in the field as durum that did not have the gene. But under salty conditions, it outperformed its durum wheat parent, with increased yields of up to 25%.
"This is very important for farmers, because it means they would only need to plant one type of seed in a paddock that may have some salty sections," James says.
Munns says new varieties of salt-tolerant durum wheat could be a commercial reality in the near future.
"Although we have used molecular techniques to characterise and understand the salt-tolerant gene, the gene was introduced into the durum wheat through 'non-GM' breeding processes. This means we have produced a novel durum wheat that is not classified as transgenic, or 'GM', and can therefore be planted without restriction," she says.
The researchers are also taking their work a step further and have now crossed the salt-tolerance gene into bread wheat. This is currently being assessed under field conditions.
You can read more about this research project by clicking here.
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