Evidence for common genetic mechanisms controlling the tolerance of sudden salt stress in the tribe Triticeae

Previous studies in several Triticeae species have suggested that salt tolerance is a polygenic trait, but that genes on some chromosomes confer better tolerance to salt stress than others. This suggests an intriguing possibility that there may be a similar basis for salt tolerance in the species of the tribe Triticeae. In this study, chromosomal control of the tolerance to sudden salt stress, measured as the mean rate of leaf elongation in solution cultures with a single increment of 200 mM NaCl, was investigated in the genomes of cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), and Dasypyrum villosum (L.) Can-dargy by using disomic addition lines of individual pairs of chromosomes or chromosome arms of each of the three species in the ‘Chinese Spring’ wheat genetic background. It was observed that the chromosomes of homoeologous groups 3, 4, and 5 in barley, 5 and 7 in rye, and 4 and 6 in D. villosum carry loci with significant positive effects on salt tolerance. Increased doses of chromosomes of group 2, however, reduce or do not increase the tolerance to salt stress. These results are in agreement with a previous study of the tolerance of this salt stress regime in wheat and wheatgrass Lophopyrum elongatum. A ranking analysis of the chromosomal effects within each genome of the five Triticeae species investigated in this and previous studies revealed that the chromosomes of homoeologous groups 3 and 5 consistently confer large positive effects on the tolerance of sudden salt stress, while the chromosomes of homoeologous group 2 in increased dose have no or negative effects on the tolerance. This strongly suggests that species of the tribe Triticeae share some common genetic mechanisms of tolerance of sudden salt stress. The findings in this study give credence to the proposal that wild relatives can be exploited in the development of wheat cultivars with greater tolerance to salt stress.