Abstract
Salinity is one of the major limitations of plant growth and productivity all over the world. In vitro screening with marker assisted selection can greatly facilitate the selection and isolation of useful tolerant lines. The genetic basis of salt tolerance was examined in salt tolerant (EC 558706), moderately tolerant (EC 558719) and salt sensitive (EC 558620) maize genotypes. Callus lines from mature embryos were developed and exposed to culture media containing, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% NaCl concentrations. The treated calli were used to detect DNA based molecular markers associated with salt tolerance by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Ten (10) polymorphic bands were found related to salt tolerance in maize. The analysis revealed A 11 (1200, 600, 300 bp), C 20 (300 bp), OPA 10 (2800 bp), OPA 13 (900, 600, 250 bp), OPX 11 (800 bp), OPI 01 (700 bp) and OPK 20 (700 bp) primers associated with salt tolerance which can be utilized in breeding programmevia., marker assisted selection and developing salt tolerant genotype by genetic transformation. Key words: Maize, salt tolerance, molecular marker, RAPD.
Highlights
Cereal culture is of great economic importance in an agricultural country like India (Zair, 2003)
The genetic basis of salt tolerance was examined in salt tolerant (EC 558706), moderately tolerant (EC 558719) and salt sensitive (EC 558620) maize genotypes
The treated calli were used to detect DNA based molecular markers associated with salt tolerance by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique
Summary
Cereal culture is of great economic importance in an agricultural country like India (Zair, 2003). Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important cereal crop of world agricultural economy. Among the cereals and grain crops, maize rank third in production in the world being suppressed only by rice and wheat. Salinity is one of the major limitations of plant growth and productivity all over the world (Flowers, 2004; Foolad, 2004). Maize is moderately sensitive to salinity and considered as the most salt sensitive of the cereals (Maas and Hoffman, 1977). Testing genetic resources for productivity, quality parameters and stress tolerance, field trials are usually time consuming. Molecular variation in tissue culture derived plants has been characterized at DNA level (Jain, 2001)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
