Breeding for an elite malting barley cultivar with acid soil tolerance

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the fourth most produced cereal crop in the world, but its productivity on acid soil has been restricted due to its high sensitivity to aluminum (Al) toxicity. The major gene controlling Al tolerance in barley is HvAACT1 (Al-activated citrate transporter 1), which is involved in citrate secretion from the roots for Al detoxification. Here we bred a malting barley cultivar with enhanced acid soil tolerance by introgression of a 1-kb transposon regulating the expression of HvAACT1 into an elite malting cultivar through multiple backcrossing and marker-assisted selection. The line selected showed increased expression of HvAACT1, enhanced citrate secretion from the roots and decreased Al binding to the roots. This line produced more than two to three times the grain yield compared with the original cultivar when grown on acidic soil, providing a potentially sustainable and economic way to boost productivity of malting barley cultivars in areas with acidic soil.