Genetic Resources for Salt Tolerance in the Wild Progenitors of Wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) and Barley (Hordeum spontaneum) in Israel

Salt tolerance was tested in the progenitors of cultivated cereals, wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) from Israel. Plants from five selected populations of H. spontaneum from the Mediterranean Coastal Plain and northern Negev desert, were grown on 250 and 350 mM of NaCl. Likewise, five populations of T. dicoccoides from the eastern Samaria steppes, Mt. Hermon and Mt. Carmel, were grown on 175 and 250 mM of NaCl. Here we report on superior genotypes of H. spontaneum, ripening at 350 mM NaCl (= 60 % sea water), and of T. dicoccoides ripening at 250 mM (— 40 % sea water). We are proceeding now with both genetical and physiological studies aimed at chromosomally‐locating salt tolerant genes and unravelling the mechanism(s) of salt resistance in these wild cereals.