qtl mapping of genes controlling na+ and k+ concentration in roots and shoots of wheat under normal and salt stress conditions

in wheat na+ exclusion and k+/na+ have shown to be associated with salinity tolerance, therefore in order to identify qtls with additive effect for na+ and k+ concentration traits in roots and shoots of wheat, 319  bread wheat recombinant inbred lines (ril f7), derived from a cross between roshan cultivar (salt tolerant) and falat cultivar (salt sensitive), along with their parents and 2 checks (arg and moghan3) were studied in 2 separate randomized complete block designs (normal and stress) with 3 replications in greenhouse in 2012. traits measured included shoot and root na+ and k+ concentration, k+/na+ ratio in root and shoot and root to shoot na+ and k+ concentrations. linkage map was constructed with 730 markers (709 dart markers and 21 ssr markers). the linkage map spanned 4505.71 cm with an average distance of 6.17 cm between adjacent markers. a total of 31 additive qtls were identified by qtl cartographer program using single-environment phenotypic values. results indicated that the biochemical pathways for na+ and k+ accumulation are highly likely to be independent. also, results indicated that shoot na+ concentration and root to shoot na+ and k+ concentrations could be used as selection criteria between tolerant and sensitive cultivars in salt stress condition.