TaCHP encoding C1-domain protein stably enhances wheat yield in saline-alkaline field.

Salt and saline-alkaline stress seriously threaten crop production and food security worldwide (Yang and Guo, 2018). Identifying genes that confer tolerance to these conditions without yield penalty would help mitigate this problem through molecular breeding (Liang et al., 2023; Sahu and Liu, 2023). Although numerous stress-tolerance genes have been identified, their application potential in molecular breeding has rarely been confirmed through multi-year and multi-site field trials. We previously identified the wheat (Triticum aestivum) salt-tolerance gene TaCHP (TraesCS7D02G545700), encoding a Cys-, His-, and Pro-rich zinc finger protein (Li et al., 2010). Here, we report that overexpressing TaCHP stably enhanced wheat yields in saline-alkaline fields in a multi-year and three-site field trial, pointing to the potential of this gene for improving saline-alkaline tolerance in wheat via molecular breeding. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.