From the rye Alt3 and Alt4 aluminum tolerance loci to orthologous genes in other cereals

The major limit to plant growth in acid soils is the presence of toxic aluminum (Al) cations, which limit growth by inhibiting root elongation. Aluminum tolerance in rye is controlled by (at least) four independent loci (Alt1, Alt2, Alt3 and Alt4) located on chromosome arms 6RS, 3RS, 4RL and 7RS, respectively. In this work, we analyzed several F₂ populations in which two different Alt loci were segregating. We constructed a map of chromosome 7R, which contains the Alt4 locus and microsatellite and PCR-markers (B1, B4, B11, B26 and BCD1230). These markers were mapped to the S arm of 7R using wheat-rye addition lines. Our results show that all these markers are linked to the Alt4 locus already known to be on 7RS. In addition, the OPS14 ₇₀₅ RAPD marker was linked to the Alt3 locus using bulked segregant analysis. This RAPD marker was transformed into a SCAR (ScOPS14 ₇₀₅ ) and was localized to arm 4RL using wheat-rye addition lines. Finally, this SCAR was linked to the Alt3 locus at a genetic distance of 23.4 cM. In light of the current findings, and taking into account the synteny relationships in cereals, we propose candidate Alt3 and Alt4 orthologues in other cereals.