Field Screening of Wheat Advanced Lines for Salinity Tolerance

Ehab S A Moustafa,Mohamed M Kamara,Mohamed M A Ali,Abdallah A Hassanin,Elsayed Mansour,Mohamed F Awad

doi:10.3390/agronomy11020281

Ehab S A Moustafa, Mohamed M Kamara + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020281

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Abstract

Salinity in soil or irrigation water requires developing genetically salt-tolerant genotypes, especially in arid regions. Developing salt-tolerant and high-yielding wheat genotypes has become more urgent in particular with continuing global population growth and abrupt climate changes. The current study aimed at investigating the genetic variability of new breeding lines in three advanced generations F6–F8 under salinity stress. The evaluated advanced lines were derived through accurate pedigree selection under actual saline field conditions (7.74 dS/m) and using saline water in irrigation (8.35 dS/m). Ninety-four F6 lines were evaluated in 2017–2018 and reduced by selection to thirty-seven F7 lines in 2018–2019 and afterward to thirty-four F8 lines in 2019–2020 based on grain yield and related traits compared with adopted check cultivars. Significant genetic variability was detected for all evaluated agronomic traits across generations in the salt-stressed field. The elite F8 breeding lines displayed higher performance than the adopted check cultivars. These lines were classified based on yield index into four groups using hierarchical clustering ranging from highly salt-tolerant to slightly salt-tolerant genotypes, which efficiently enhance the narrow genetic pool of salt-tolerance. The detected response to selection and high to intermediate broad-sense heritability for measured traits displayed their potentiality to be utilized through advanced generations under salinity stress for identifying salt-tolerant breeding lines.

Highlights

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a widespread staple food crop worldwide
The objectives of this study were to: (i) investigate the genetic variability of breeding lines in three advanced generations, F6–F8, under salinity stress; (ii) identify superior advanced lines under salinity stress that can be exploited in the breeding program to develop further adapted cultivars for salt-affected regions; and (iii) estimate heritability, genetic gain and response to selection based on earliness and yield-related traits to determine their efficiency for selection in wheat under salinity stress
Large variability was detected among the evaluated breeding lines for salt tolerance under field conditions at yielding stage in the three evaluated generations, F6–F8

Summary

Introduction

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a widespread staple food crop worldwide. It is a major source of energy and starch, as well as provides considerable amounts of dietary fiber, protein, and vitamins for human nutrition [1,2]. Current and projected future population growth requires improving wheat production in response to worsening challenges due to climate change [4,5,6]. Salinity is one of the harsh environmental factors that devastatingly impact global wheat production [7,8]. Wheat plants suffer from high osmotic stress, difficulties in nutrient uptake, and ion toxicity, which is reflected in reducing cell turgor and limiting growth and productivity [8,10]

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