Aegilops species as a source of boron toxicity tolerance

Aegilops species are distributed all around the world and successfully grow in regions suffering from severe heat, drought, diseases, and nutrient deficiency and toxicity. With their good adaptation to challenging environments and due to their being one of the closest relatives of modern wheat, they can be efficiently utilized for wheat improvement towards biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Several studies have reported the presence of beneficial traits, such as higher nutrient content, resistance to barley yellow dwarf virus, cereal aphid, Hessian fly, powdery mildew, and rust, as well as tolerance to abiotic stresses including salinity, drought, heat, etc., in different Aegilops sp. to facilitate modern wheat breeding. However, limited reports are available on the boron toxicity tolerance of Aegilops species. Boron toxicity stress restricts wheat agricultural production in different parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, including Turkiye. The stress largely affects the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms in plants, consequently reducing their growth and yield. Here, we report the diversity of different Aegilops species grown under high-boron growth conditions, focusing on their physiological and biochemical responses. It is extremely important to discuss and decipher how and why Aegilops can be a potential source of boron toxicity tolerance so that these species can be effectively used in future breeding programs targeting this agricultural problem.

Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the TUBITAK 1001 (No. 119O455) project for the funding provided to conduct this research work.