HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ashraf, M. Articles by Bradshaw, A. D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Ashraf, M. Articles by Bradshaw, A. D. Agricola Articles by Ashraf, M. Articles by Bradshaw, A. D.

Selection and Heritability of Tolerance to Sodium Chloride in Four Forage Species¹

² Graduate research student, lecturer, and professor of botany, respectively, Univ. of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK. Reprint requests should be addressed to T. McNeilly.

Breeding for salt tolerance in crop species, if possible, is an economical approach to overcoming the problem of soil salinity. However, the availability of appropriate genetic variation at the intraspecific and/or interspecific level is a prerequisite for successful progress under selection. Genetic variation for NaCl tolerance at the seedling stage was assessed in nutrient solution culture in forage rape (Brassica napus L.), berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). Shoot growth of all species was severely inhibited after 2 weeks of growth in 200, 225, and 250 mmol L^–1 NaCl, but there was considerable variability between seedlings. Ten-thousand seeds of each species were therefore screened for shoot growth at high NaCl concentrations. Selection intensities of < 1% were achieved for all species. Selected plants in two polycrossed populations of each species allowed estimation of realized heritability and narrow-sense heritability. Realized heritabilities were 0.62, 0.34, 0.31, and 0.57 for forage rape, berseem clover, alfalfa, and red clover, while narrowsense heritabilities from parent-progeny regression, were 0.74, 0.50, 0.52, and 0.98 for those species, respectively. It was concluded that significant responses to recurrent selection for seedling NaCl tolerance may be expected in these species.

Key Words: Brassica napus L. • Trifolium alexandrinum L. • Medicago sativa L. • Trifolium pratense L. • Salt tolerance • Heritability

Received for publication January 30, 1986.