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Avenues for increasing salt tolerance of crops, and the role of physiologically based selection traits

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Abstract

Increased salt tolerance is needed for crops grown in areas at risk of salinisation. This requires new genetic sources of salt tolerance, and more efficient techniques for identifying salt-tolerant germplasm, so that new genes for tolerance can be introduced into crop cultivars. Screening a large number of genotypes for salt tolerance is not easy. Salt tolerance is achieved through the control of salt movement into and through the plant, and salt-specific effects on growth are seen only after long periods of time. Early effects on growth and metabolism are likely due to osmotic effects of the salt, that is to the salt in the soil solution. To avoid the necessity of growing plants for long periods of time to measure biomass or yield, practical selection techniques can be based on physiological traits. We illustrate this with current work on durum wheat, on selection for the trait of sodium exclusion. We have explored a wide range of genetic diversity, identified a new source of sodium exclusion, confirmed that the trait has a high heritability, checked for possible penalties associated with the trait, and are currently developing molecular markers. This illustrates the potential for marker-assisted selection based on sound physiological principles in producing salt-tolerant crop cultivars.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Rana Munns, Shazia Husain, Richard A. James, A.G. (Tony) Condon, Megan P. Lindsay & Evans S. Lagudah

  2. Department of Plant Production, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    Anna Rita Rivelli

  3. Danforth Plant Science Center, Campus Box 1098, St. Louis, MO, 63105, USA

    Daniel P. Schachtman

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

    Ray A. Hare

Authors
  1. Rana Munns
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  2. Shazia Husain
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  3. Anna Rita Rivelli
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  4. Richard A. James
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  5. A.G. (Tony) Condon
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  6. Megan P. Lindsay
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  7. Evans S. Lagudah
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  8. Daniel P. Schachtman
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  9. Ray A. Hare
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Correspondence to Rana Munns.

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Munns, R., Husain, S., Rivelli, A.R. et al. Avenues for increasing salt tolerance of crops, and the role of physiologically based selection traits. Plant and Soil 247, 93–105 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021119414799

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