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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #386747
Research Project: Improved Plant Genetic Resources and Methodologies for Rangelands, Pastures, and Turf Landscapes in the Semiarid Western U.S.

Location: Forage and Range Research

Title: High-LD SNP markers exhibiting pleiotropic effects on salt tolerance at germination and seedlings stages in spring wheat

Author
item HASSEB, NOURAN - El-Fayoum University
item SALLAM, AHMED - Assiut University
item KARAM, MOHAMED - El-Fayoum University
item GAO, LIANGLIANG - Kansas State University
item Wang, Richard
item MOURSI, YASSER - El-Fayoum University

Submitted to: Plant Molecular Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/25/2022
Publication Date: 2/25/2022
Citation: Hasseb, N.M., Sallam, A., Karam, M.A., Gao, L., Wang, R., Moursi, Y.S. 2022. High-LD SNP markers exhibiting pleiotropic effects on salt tolerance at germination and seedlings stages in spring wheat. Plant Molecular Biology. 108:585–603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-022-01248-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-022-01248-x

Interpretive Summary: Salinity is a serious threat for plant development and crop production worldwide as effects of climate change are increasing. To slow down the soil salinization, crops tolerant to both salinity and drought are urgently needed. In this study, 176 genotypes of spring wheat (mostly of the Middle East and north Africa origin) were tested for salinity tolerance at seed germination and seedling establishment. Then, genome wide association study (GWAS) was used to identify the genomic regions/genes tailoring the salt tolerance. Information gained from this study laid the foundation for a collaborative project to improve salinity/drought tolerance of Egyptian wheat cultivars with FRR-released wheat germplasm line W4909 that exhibits true tissue tolerance to salt and maintains high seed yield under normal and saline soil conditions.

Technical Abstract: With 20% salinity-affected soils of the irrigated land worldwide, salinity is a serious threat for plant development and crop production. However, wheat is the most stable food source worldwide. In terms of salinity-tolerance, it has been classified as moderately tolerant. In several crop plants, it has been evidenced that salinity tolerance at seed germination and seedling establishment is under polygenic control. As yield was the ultimate goal of breeders and geneticists, less attention has been paid to understand the genetic architecture of salt tolerance at early stages. Thus, the genetic control of salt tolerance at these stages is poorly understood relative to the late stages. In the current study, 176 genotypes of spring wheat were tested for salinity tolerance at seed germination and seedling establishment. Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) has been used to identify the genomic regions/genes tailoring the salt tolerance at seed germination and seedling establishment. Salinity stress negatively impacted on all germination and seedling development parameters. Totally, 137 SNPs showed significant association with the traits of interest. Across the whole genome, 33 regions showed high linkage disequilibrium (LD). These high LD regions harbored 15 SNPs with pleiotropic effect (i.e. SNPs that control more than one trait). Nine genes belonging to different functional groups were found to be associated with the pleioptropic SNPs. Noteworthy, chromosome 2B harbored the gene TraesCS2B02G135900 that act as Potassium transporter. Our findings represent a base to improve salinity tolerance in wheat.