外源基因导入改良小麦抗旱性的研究进展

华北是我国水资源匮乏地区之一,干旱直接威胁着本区域粮食安全。小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)作为世界主要粮食作物,在我国北方占有重要地位,选育抗旱小麦品种是降低干旱危害的有效手段。由于小麦属内的遗传变异相当有限,小麦抗旱性遗传改良急需开发和导入新的基因资源。远缘杂交是转育小麦近缘属种优良基因、创造特异育种新材料的有效途径;全基因组DNA导入技术打破了物种界限,可以将小麦族外的基因导入小麦基因组中;转基因技术不仅可以导入其他物种的基因,更使得分子聚合不同来源的抗旱相关基因成为可能,为小麦抗旱性综合改良开辟了新途径。本文以上述3种技术为切入点,对外源基因(或染色质)导入、改良小麦抗旱性的相关研究进展进行了回顾和展望。

Research progress on improving wheat drought tolerance via exotic gene introduction

Water shortage has been identified as a critical issue of sustainability in the North China Plain, a main grain production base in China. It has directly threatened agriculture production in the region and the country at large. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a major cultivated crop in the world, has become an economically viable crop in North China. Breeding drought-tolerant wheat varieties has proven to be an effective approach to limit drought losses in the region. However, inadequate genetic diversity within the Triticum family has hindered progress in developing improved drought tolerant wheat varieties. Exploitation and application of tolerant alien genes from related wheat genera and species have been achieved through distant hybridization of wheat and specific wild grasses. An entire genomic DNA injection technology delimited species barrier and made it possible to transfer exotic genes into wheat from any related or non-related species. Transgenic wheat also opened up a new era of pyramiding drought-related genes of different origins to increase drought tolerance. Using these technologies as take-off point, this paper reviewed relevant progress in wheat drought tolerance improvement.