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Physiological and genetic control of the tolerance of wheat to high concentrations of boron and implications for plant breeding

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Abstract

Physiological and genetic studies have been undertaken to further the understanding of genetic variation in response to high concentrations of B in the soil and so facilitate the breeding of tolerant varieties for cultivation in high B regions. Genetic variation in response to high concentrations of B has been identified for a number of crop and pasture species of southern Australia, including wheat, barley, oats, field peas and annual pasture medics. The wheat variety Halberd, which was the most widely grown variety in Australia during the 1970s and early 1980s, is the most tolerant of the current Australian wheat varieties. The mechanism of tolerance for all species studied is reduced accumulation of B by tolerant genotypes in both roots and shoots. Results from experiments of uptake kinetics indicate that control of B uptake is a non-metabolic process. The response of wheat to high B supply is under the control of several major additive genes, one of which has been located to chromosome 4A.

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Paull, J.G., Nable, R.O. & Rathjen, A.J. Physiological and genetic control of the tolerance of wheat to high concentrations of boron and implications for plant breeding. Plant Soil 146, 251–260 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012019

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