Direct contribution of the maternal genotype on the transgenerational salinity tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Maternal effects are ubiquitous in nature and have been demonstrated in a wide array of traits and taxa. In many species, the genotype of the mother is a major determinant of the phenotype of her offspring. In plants, less is known about the levels of sensitivity to stresses-mediated maternal effects. We generated 12 reciprocal crossed F2 lines from two salt-tolerant and two salt-sensitive wheat cultivars to distinguish the influence of the maternal effect from the influence of the offspring genome on the expression of offspring traits under high-salinity (250 mM NaCl). SSR markers screening of the reciprocal hybrid genotypes and parents’ nuclear genomes and Sanger sequencing of low-, medium-, and high-dominant markers revealed insignificant changes in the nuclear genome among offspring and parents. However, interestingly, the offspring with salt-tolerant mothers showed higher salt tolerance than those with salt-sensitive mothers. This study shed light on still unresolved fundamental questions regarding the potential of maternal genetic effects contribute to stress tolerance and the non-completely control by nuclear genetic factors, which may open future research avenues as a source of a quality shift in subsequent offspring that any genetic analysis of tolerance traits must consider.