Breeding for abiotic stresses for sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Using cereal crops as examples, we review the breeding for tolerance to the abiotic stresses of low nitrogen, drought, salinity and aluminium toxicity. All are already important abiotic stress factors that cause large and widespread yield reductions. Drought will increase in importance with climate change, the area of irrigated land that is salinized continues to increase, and the cost of inorganic N is set to rise. There is good potential for directly breeding for adaptation to low N while retaining an ability to respond to high N conditions. Breeding for drought and salinity tolerance have proven to be difficult, and the complex mechanisms of tolerance are reviewed. Marker-assisted selection for component traits of drought in rice and pearl millet and salinity tolerance in wheat has produced some positive results and the pyramiding of stable quantitative trait locuses controlling component traits may provide a solution. New genomic technologies promise to make progress for breeding tolerance to these two stresses through a more fundamental understanding of underlying processes and identification of the genes responsible. In wheat, there is a great potential of breeding genetic resistance for salinity and aluminium tolerance through the contributions of wild relatives.

Impact of heat and drought stress on arable crop production in Belgium

“…With a projected increase in drought with climate change, the breeding for drought-tolerant crops is even more emphasised (Witcombe et al, 2008). In addition to drought, temperature-induced stress causes variability in wheat yields (Semenov and Shewry, 2011;Asseng et al, 2011), corn and soybean (Schlenkera and Roberts, 2009) and other crops (e.g.…”

Sugarcane Responses at Water Deficit Conditions

“…In this context, it was observed that plants can present mechanisms or strategies of tolerance and susceptibility that are expressed during their developmental stages (Osmond et al, 1097;Lichtenthaler, 1996;Chaves et al, 2003). Different mechanisms and processes are involved in order to avoid the effects of drought and promote tolerance, among which phenology is considered one of the essential factors because water stress is highly variable in duration and severity (Witcombe et al, 2008). In regard to plant evolution, water availability is classified as the most relevant factor among elements which collaborate to abiotic stresses.…”

Genetical and Molecular Studies on Salinity and Drought Tolerance in Rice (Oryza Sativa L.)

“…Salinity and drought stresses are among the most serious challenges to crop production in the world today, particularly in developing countries (Zhou et al, 2007). Drought and salinity tolerance can be designated as complex traits due to the interplay of multiple pathways that mediate a plant's capacity to withstand these abiotic stresses (Witcombe et al, 2008).…”