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An efficient marker-assisted backcrossing strategy for enhancing barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production under acidity and aluminium toxicity

Molecular Breeding volume 31, pages 855–866 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

To feed the predicted extra two billion people by 2050, crop production must increase on existing cultivated land at a rate that challenges our current capability. Acid soils and aluminium (Al3+) toxicity restrict productivity worldwide but also offer the greatest opportunity for increases in global food production. Our understanding of the physiology, genetic control and the identification of genomic regions underlying Al resistance in important staple crops has increased greatly over the past 20 years, enabling the application of molecular breeding. In this study, we report the application of an efficient marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) strategy for the introgression of the HvAACT1 gene which confers Al resistance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We conducted foreground and background selection using microsatellite (SSR) markers linked to HvAACT1 and SSR-based linkage maps, along with embryo rescue and a cost-effective DNA preparation method shortening the breeding cycle to ~18 months. The MAB strategy enabled the development of homozygous (BC3F2) Al-resistant lines with the smallest introgressed region and 98.7 % of the recurrent parent genome. The Al-resistant line yielded significantly more seeds (121 %) than its isogenic line in soil-based assays containing 12 % of Al saturation. This MAB strategy could be extended to other staple crops with similar molecular toolboxes, expanding their cultivation onto acid soils, and contributing to greater yield stability and food security, particularly in developing countries.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from CGNA and CONICYT Regional/GORE Araucanía/CGNA/R10C100, and INIA for providing infrastructure. The authors are grateful to Dr. Patrick M. Hayes and Rudy Rivas for supplying Dayton and Andes-171-96 seeds, respectively. Dr. Genyi Li is also gratefully acknowledged for his helpful suggestions in preparing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit, Agriaquaculture Nutritional Genomic Center (CGNA), Km 10 Camino Cajón-Vilcún, INIA, Temuco, Chile

    Braulio J. Soto-Cerda, Annally R. Rupayan & Haroldo Salvo-Garrido

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Carillanca, Camino Cajón-Vilcún Km. 10, INIA, PO Box-58D, Temuco, Chile

    Adolfo B. Montenegro & Haroldo Salvo-Garrido

  3. Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 195 Dafoe Rd, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2M9, Canada

    Braulio J. Soto-Cerda

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box-160C, Concepción, Chile

    Enrique H. Peñaloza

  5. Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile

    Milton H. Gallardo

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  1. Braulio J. Soto-Cerda
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  2. Enrique H. Peñaloza
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  3. Adolfo B. Montenegro
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  5. Milton H. Gallardo
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  6. Haroldo Salvo-Garrido
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Correspondence to Haroldo Salvo-Garrido.

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Online Resource 1 Marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) strategy for introgressing Al resistance in barley (TIFF 16702 kb)

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Soto-Cerda, B.J., Peñaloza, E.H., Montenegro, A.B. et al. An efficient marker-assisted backcrossing strategy for enhancing barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production under acidity and aluminium toxicity. Mol Breeding 31, 855–866 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-013-9839-7

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Keywords

  • Marker-assisted backcrossing
  • Barley
  • Acid soil
  • Aluminium toxicity
  • Food security