The ecological genomic basis of salinity adaptation in Tunisian Medicago truncatula.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As our world becomes warmer, agriculture is increasingly impacted by rising soil salinity and understanding plant adaptation to salt stress can help enable effective crop breeding. Salt tolerance is a complex plant phenotype and we know little about the pathways utilized by naturally tolerant plants. Legumes are important species in agricultural and natural ecosystems, since they engage in symbiotic nitrogen-fixation, but are especially vulnerable to salinity stress.

Results

Our studies of the model legume Medicago truncatula in field and greenhouse settings demonstrate that Tunisian populations are locally adapted to saline soils at the metapopulation level and that saline origin genotypes are less impacted by salt than non-saline origin genotypes; these populati

SUBMITTER: Friesen ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4410866 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature