Large and rapidly increasing areas of salt-affected soils are posing major challenges for the agricultural sector. Most fields used for the important food crop (wheat) are expected to be salt-affected within 50 years. To counter the associated problems, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in salt stress responses and tolerance, thereby enabling their exploitation in the development of salt-tolerant varieties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSalinity tolerance-associated phenotypes of 35 EMS mutagenized wheat lines originating from BARI Gom-25 were compared. Vegetative growth was measured using non-destructive image-based phenotyping. Five different NaCl concentrations (0 to 160 mM) were applied to plants 19 days after planting (DAP 19), and plants were imaged daily until DAP 38.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Triticum aestivum (wheat) is one of the world's oldest crops and has been used for >8000 years as a food crop in North Africa, West Asia and Europe. Today, wheat is one of the most important sources of grain for humans, and is cultivated on greater areas of land than any other crop. As the human population increases and soil salinity becomes more prevalent, there is increased pressure on wheat breeders to develop salt-tolerant varieties in order to meet growing demands for yield and grain quality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoil salinization is an increasing global threat to economically important agricultural crops such as bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). A main regulator of plants' responses to salt stress is WRKY transcription factors, a protein family that binds to DNA and alters the rate of transcription for specific genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF