by Playfuls Staff |
5th February 2007
Australian scientists have used two recently discovered genes from an ancient wheat variety to develop a new way to [more] breed salt-tolerant wheat.
Researchers say the two genes -- Nax1 and Nax2 -- work by excluding salt from different parts of the plant: one from the roots, the other from the leaves. The discovery of the two genes is the subject of international patents.
"The two genes originally came from a wheat ancestor, Triticum monococcum," said research team leader Rana Munns of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. "They were unwittingly crossed into a durum wheat line about 35 years ago and are normally not present in any modern wheat."
She noted more than 6 percent of the world's arable land is affected by salinity. Salt tolerant crops can provide farmers with income for remediation, as well as helping to stabilize soil from wind and water erosion.
The research -- a collaborative project between CSIRO, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, the University of Adelaide and the Australian Center for Plant Functional Genomics -- appears in the journal Plant Physiology.
© 2007 UPI
