Scientists from the University of Wisconsin assessed the diverse carrot
germplasm's response to salinity stress and identified the salt-tolerant
carrot germplasm that may be used by breeders. They also defined the
appropriate screening criteria for assessing salt tolerance in germinating
carrot seed. Their research is published in HortScience.

Lead scientists Adam Bolton and Philipp Simon emphasized that one of the
effective ways to combat the effects of salinity stress in glycophytic crops
like carrot is by identifying new genetic sources of tolerance and
efficient phenotypic methods to develop salinity-tolerant cultivars.

"In previous studies, carrots have been characterized as a crop that is
sensitive to salinity. This study evaluated a large collection of wild and
cultivated carrot germplasm and confirmed that, in fact, many carrot
cultivars are saline-sensitive during seed germination, but that many
germplasm accessions evaluated were quite saline-tolerant. Interestingly,
many of the more saline-tolerant carrots evaluated were cultivated carrots,
perhaps reflecting unintentional selection by farmers that have been growing
the crop with saline irrigation water. This study provides an optimistic
outlook for breeding carrots with improved salinity tolerance during
germination. Tolerance during seeding and later plant development will also
be needed as salinity becomes a more serious challenge for farmers," Simon
said.

[journals.ashs.org]
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