Wheat grain yield on saline soils is improved by an ancestral Na+ transporter gene

Munns, Rana; James, Richard A.; Xu, Bo; Athman, Asmini; Conn, Simon J.; Jordans, Charlotte; Byrt, Caitlin S.; Hare, Ray A.; Tyerman, Stephen D.; Tester, Mark; Plett, Darren; Gilliham, Matthew

doi:10.1038/nbt.2120

Cited by 678 publications

(637 citation statements)

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“…Third, we measured yield in a saline field, chosen in the middle of the durum growing area of northern New South Wales, Australia. Key field results with Nax2 have recently been published (Munns et al 2012). Here we compare the field performance of both Nax1 and Nax2 and describe the breeding program that developed the advanced breeding lines and also circumvented the yield penalty found with earlier material containing Nax1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently we showed that the presence of Nax2 could increase the grain yield of wheat on salt-affected farmers' fields by up to 25% (Munns et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both loci confer a reduced rate of Na + transport from roots to shoots by retrieving Na + from root xylem (Davenport et al 2005;James et al 2006a). Fine mapping of the Nax1 locus indicated that the candidate gene was TmHKT1;4-A2 (Huang et al 2006), which likely encodes for a Na + -specific transporter located on the plasma membrane of cells surrounding xylem vessels (Munns et al 2012). An HKT1;5-like gene was proposed as the candidate for both Nax2 and Kna1 (Byrt et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of ancestral wheat sodium exclusion genes Nax1 and Nax2 on grain yield of durum wheat on saline soils

James

Blake

Zwart

et al. 2012

Functional Plant Biol.

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Abstract. Nax1 and Nax2 are two genetic loci that control the removal of Na + from the xylem and thereby help to exclude Na + from leaves of plants in saline soil. They originate in the wheat ancestral relative Triticum monococcum L. and are not present in modern durum or bread wheat. The Nax1 and Nax2 loci carry TmHKT1;4-A2 and TmHKT1;5-A, respectively, which are the candidate genes for these functions. This paper describes the development of near-isogenic breeding lines suitable for assessing the impact of the Nax loci and their performance in controlled environment and fields of varying salinity. In young plants grown in 150 mM NaCl, Nax1 reduced the leaf Na + concentration by 3-fold, Nax2 by 2-fold and both Nax1 and Nax2 together by 4-fold. In 250 mM NaCl, Nax1 promoted leaf longevity and greater photosynthesis and stomatal conductance. In the uppermost leaf, the Na + -excluding effect of the Nax loci was much stronger. In the field, Na + in the flag leaf was reduced 100-fold by Nax1 and 4-fold by Nax2; however, Nax1 lines yielded 5-10% less than recurrent parent (cv. Tamaroi) in saline soil. In contrast, Nax2 lines had no yield penalty and at high salinity they yielded close to 25% more than Tamaroi, indicating this material is suitable for breeding commercial durum wheat with improved yield on saline soils.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently we showed that the presence of Nax2 could increase the grain yield of wheat on salt-affected farmers' fields by up to 25% (Munns et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of ancestral wheat sodium exclusion genes Nax1 and Nax2 on grain yield of durum wheat on saline soils

James

Blake

Zwart

et al. 2012

Functional Plant Biol.

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“…These 'synthetic' wheats are crossed into elite wheat lines and then backcrossed to fix desired phenotypes 64 . A durum wheat (pasta wheat; Triticum durum) line that maintains high yields when grown in saline soil was created by introgressing a region of the einkorn wheat (T. monococcum) genome (a diploid progenitor of tetraploid durum wheat and hexaploid bread wheat) that contains a sodium exclusion pump 65 . In diploid species of crop, problems with compatibility and stability can limit the range of varieties that can be used, and extensive backcrossing is required to remove undesired allelic variation.…”

Section: Accessing Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic innovation for crop improvement

Bevan

Uauy

Wulff

et al. 2017

Nature

312

219

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Crop production needs to increase to secure future food supplies, while reducing its impact on ecosystems. Detailed characterization of plant genome structure and genetic diversity is crucial for meeting these challenges. Advances in genome sequencing and assembly are being used to access to the large and complex genomes of crops and their wild relatives. Sequencing of wild crop relatives is identifying a wide spectrum of genetic variation, permitting the association of genetic diversity with diverse agronomic phenotypes. In combination with improved and automated phenotyping assays and functional genomic studies, genomics is providing new foundations for crop-breeding systems. In the twentieth century, famines caused by political crises, mismanagement of food production or genocide killed an estimated 70 million people and were second only to war as the greatest manmade cause of death 1 . The father of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, summarized the importance of crops: "Without food, people perish, social and political organizations disintegrate, and civilizations collapse. " For thousands of years, people have dedicated considerable resources to securing food supplies; for example, grain supplies to ancient Rome were secured through an extensive network of long-distance transport, and the distribution of grain was coordinated and subsidized by the cura annonae ('care for the grain supply'), an important figure who contributed to the maintenance of political unity and power.During the past 10,000 years, a period known as the Holocene, Earth's environment has been unusually stable. This probably facilitated the domestication of crops from wild species, resulting in steadily improved yields and adaptation to new agricultural areas. The production of food is now carried out on a vast scale, with 38% of Earth's surface dedicated to agriculture 2 . This increased production is having a pervasive influence on ecosystems worldwide: nitrogen production for agriculture accounts for 1.2% of global energy consumption 3 ; photosynthesis can no longer maintain stable levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide; and food production consumes around 70% of freshwater supplies. The modelling of crop responses to increases in temperature predicts that there will be a considerable reduction in the yield of rice, an important crop around the world 4 . Climate change could also alter the dynamics of crop pathogenic agents by altering the range of vectors and by compromising the immune response of crops 5 .Crop production must therefore adapt to more variable environments and the substantial impact it has on the environment needs to be reduced. Productivity must also increase at a much greater rate than in the past to meet the needs of Earth's growing population 6 . Genetic improvements in crop performance continue to be crucial for increasing crop productivity, but current rates of improvement are unable to meet the demands of sustainability and food security 7 . Plant genomics has a central role in the improvement of crops, includi...

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“…We described the 'paradox' of salt tolerance; that it evolves often in nature but is hard to breed into crops [2], although there has been recent success in increasing the tolerance of wheat on salt-affected soils in Australia [3]. Bui suggests that one reason for lack of success in breeding salt-tolerant crops is that researchers have focused primarily on sodium chloride in soil and have paid less attention to the effect of alkalinity.…”

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confidence: 99%