Abstract

Boron toxic soils are a problem for wheat production in many regions of the world. Wild Triticeae relatives  are known to provide gene pools for wheat germplasm improvement. To establish their potential for improving Boron tolerance, Aegilops speltoides, Ae. longissima, Ae. sharonensis, Ae. bicornis, Ae. searsii, Ae. kotschyi, Ae. peregrina ssp. cylindrostachys, Ae. peregrina ssp. euvariabilis, Ae. geniculata syn. ovata, Ae. biuncialis, Ae. triuncialis, and Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides accessions collected from Israel, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iran were screened for Boron tolerance using a hydroponic system containing elevated levels of Boron. The results indicated that some Ae. longissima, Ae. kotschyi, Ae. peregrina ssp. cylindrostachys, Ae. peregrina ssp. euvariabilis, and Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides accessions were tolerant to excess Boron. Tolerant Triticeae accessions can be useful sources of Boron tolerance for wheat improvement. The difficulties of screening wild Triticum and Aegilops species in hydroponics are discussed.

Key words: Triticum, Aegilops, boron tolerance, hydroponics.