Applicability of using shoot growth parameters as indices of screening for the tolerance of wheat genotypes to aluminum
地上部生长性状指标在小麦耐铝性筛选中的应用

Shoot and root growth parameters were adopted to screen for aluminum tolerance in wheat based on a large volume solution culture and a small Zpot soil test. The results showed significant differences in aluminum tolerance among 24 tested wheat genotypes. Significant correlation was observed between root and shoot tolerance indices among wheat genotypes employing either the same method or different methods of screening. It was also found that root tolerance parameters, such as relative root length (RRL) and relative root dry weight (RRW), had higher sensitivity in differentiating aluminum tolerance in wheat genotypes revealed by their higher standard deviation ( SD ), coefficient of variation ( CV ), and wide dispersion of date. Shoot growth parameters, such as relative shoot length (RSL) and relative shoot dry weight (RSW), were also quite applicable for Al tolerance screening as their sensitivity, though lower than that of root parameters indicated by lower SD and CV, was still high enough to discriminate the Al tolerant and the Al sensitive genotypes of wheat. Shoot growth parameters, especially shoot length, can easily, rapidly and non destructively be determined, and therefore be used efficiently to screen for aluminum tolerance in a large scale breeding program. The two screening techniques developed in this study are superior to the conventional screening methods such as small volume solution culture, pot experiment and field experiment, which are hardly applicable to screening of a large number of genotypes because of their high cost of time and labor.