Abstract: Tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata), belonging to Thinopyrum genus, is a perennial cool season bunchgrass that was originated from southern Europe, Asia Minor and southern Russia. It has been widely cultivated in America, Canada, Australia and other countries for more than a half century. Since tall wheatgrass was induced in China, Zhensheng Li had used it as a wild parent for distant hybridization to breed wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties from 1956. However, few reports were found for the wide cultivation of tall wheatgrass in China as a forage grass currently. It confers significant tolerance not only to saline and alkaline soil but also to waterlogging, drought and diseases. It can avoid competition of land and water between cereal crops and forage grass and benefit carbon neutrality and food security to cultivate tall wheatgrass on saline-alkali soils in the costal Circum-Bohai sea region. More than 10 cultivars has been released in America, Canada, Australia, Argentina and other European countries. Unfortunately, no tall wheatgrass variety has been certificated in China currently, which restrict the construction of Chinese costal grass belt. The genetic background is complex and the basic research is preliminary in tall wheatgrass, resulting in its breeding technology is lagged far behind the cereal crops like wheat and rice. Here, research progresses on the aspects of molecular breeding of tall wheatgrass including breeding history, speed breeding, tissue culture, genome sequencing and molecular markers were reviewed to promote tall wheatgrass breeding and construction of costal grass belt in China.

Key words: tall wheatgrass, breeding, molecular markers, costal grass belt