Jiamin Wang , Xian Zhang , Xuemei Liu

Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 2   
Received: 16 Jan., 2025    Accepted: 28 Feb., 2025    Published: 20 Mar., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Salt stress is the main abiotic factor that limits the productivity of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in global saline-alkali regions. This study employed genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) methods to reveal the genetic basis of salt tolerance in different barley germplasm resources. We evaluated a group of core germplasm resources under controlled salinity conditions and conducted high-resolution GWAS analysis using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Our analysis identified several loci and candidate genes significantly associated with salt stress traits, including those involved in ion homeostasis, osmotic regulation, and stress signaling pathways. A case study focusing on North African germplasm resources highlighted key salt-tolerant genes, such as HvHKT1;5 and HvNHX1, which further emphasizes their significance in breeding projects. Despite the challenges related to population structure and environmental variations, our research results demonstrate the practicality of GWAS in analyzing complex traits and guiding marker-assisted selection (MAS). This study laid the foundation for breeding salt-tolerant barley varieties and emphasized the value of integrating genomic tools into climate-adaptive agricultural breeding strategies.

Barley germplasm; Salt tolerance; GWAS; Candidate genes; Marker-assisted selection