Scientists from the University of Adelaide in Australia have identified the
genes in wheat that control tolerance to boron toxicity, a significant
yield-limiting soil condition around the globe. Project leader Dr. Tim
Sutton said "About 35% of the world's seven billion people depend on wheat
for survival. However, productivity is limited by many factors such as
drought, salinity and subsoil constraints, including boron toxicity." The
researchers say that in soils where boron toxicity reduces yields, genetic
improvement of crops is the only effective strategy to address the problem.

The scientists tracked specific boron tolerance genes from wild wheat plants
grown by the world's earliest farmers in the Mediterranean region, through
wheat lines brought into Australia more than a century ago, to current day
Australian commercial varieties. They found a distinct pattern of gene
variant distribution that was correlated to the levels of boron in soils
from different geographical regions.

"This discovery means that wheat breeders will now have precision selection
tools and the knowledge to select for the right variants of the tolerance
gene needed to do the job in specific environments," says Dr. Sutton.

[www.adelaide.edu.au]