8th INTERNATIONAL WHEAT CONFERENCE

CLoNINg ANd mAPPINg of CANdIdATe geNeS ASSoCIATed
WITh ALumINIum ToLeRANCe IN TWo PoRTugueSe BReAd
WheAT LANdRACe BARBeLA deRIVed f 2 fAmILIeS
Garcia-Oliveira AL 1, 2, * , Silva-Navas J 2 , Benito C 2 ,
Guedes-Pinto H 1 , Martins-Lopes P 1
1 Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of Genetics and Biotechnology,
University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (IBB/CGB-UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal
2 Department of Genetics, Biology Faculty, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid,
Spain
E-mail Address of presenting author: lishabaihe@hotmail.com
Wheat is one of the most important and genetically complex cereals in agriculture and
biotechnology. Among different abiotic stresses that affect it, aluminum is one of the most
limiting factors of plant growth and production in different acidic regions of the world.
Plants adapt to Al stress at molecular and cellular levels through several physiological
and biochemical mechanisms. Several are the mechanisms found to regulate aluminum
plant tolerance, being the release of organic acids (OAs) among all the most focused
by research. Within this mechanism there is comprehensive evidence that multiple the
genes regulate this trait. Therefore, the identification of these candidate genes could help
to better understand plants tolerance to Al stress and how tolerance can be increased,
thus, facilitating the selection of superior genotypes. In this study, two bread wheat F 2
populations were derived from the reciprocal cross between ‘Anahuac’ (Al sensitive) and
the highly Al tolerant Portuguese landrace ’Barbela’ (line 7/72/92). Plants were screened
using the nutritive selection method with an Al concentration of 2 ppm and 5 ppm. Candidate
genes associated with Al tolerance from MATE and ALMT families reported in
several plant species were cloned from ‘Chinese Spring’. Cloning of these genes from both
parental lines (‘Anahuac’ and ‘Barbela’) is in progress for markers development. These
gene specific markers will be mapped in our studied population and results will be discussed.
Acknowledgements: Work funded by FCT: PhD grant SFRH/BD/45556/2008 to Garcia-
Oliveira AL
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