ABSTRACT
AMIT KUMAR SINGH, RAKESH SINGH, RAJESH KUMAR, SHIKSHA CHAURASIA, SHEEL YADAV, SUNDEEP KUMAR, and DHARMMAPRAKASH P. WANKHEDE
ABSTRACT
Salinity tolerance in plants is a complex trait. Besides being controlled by many genes, it is also influenced by environmental conditions. Large and complex genome in wheat also poses many difficulties in gene discovery/ genetic mapping of salinity tolerance associated traits. On the other hand, recent advances in genomics and availability of high-throughput genome-wide analysis tools can greatly assist in deciphering molecular basis of salt tolerance in wheat. Nowadays, “omics” approaches such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics ionomics, and phenomics are increasingly being applied to get a finer level understanding of mechanisms underlying salt tolerance in the salt-tolerant accessions of different crops including wheat. Association mapping, which exploits diverse set of germplasm lines have allowed fine high-resolution mapping to identify loci controlling abiotic stress tolerance associated traits in cereals. Further, advanced breeding approaches such as marker-assisted selection and transgenic are being exploited for fast tracking the development of crop varieties. The, genomic selection is another promising approach for breeding salt-tolerant varieties. In this chapter, we have discussed and reviewed these approaches in grater details, with the focus on their potential in either underpinning molecular basis of salt tolerance or developing salt-tolerant wheat varieties.
