Molecular Insights for Improving Plant Resilience to Salinity

Salinity is one of the abiotic constraints which continue to threaten crop productivity. Plant breeding programs utilize conventional methods, molecular tools, and farm management strategies to refine and modulate cultivars’ tolerance to salinity stress. Salt tolerance is a complex, multigenic attribute regulated over several genetic pathways and there have been efforts for gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms. An efficient Na+ retrieval from xylem tissue is enabled through the high affinity potassium transporters (HKT)High affinity potassium transporters (HKT) to prevent long distance movement of Na+ in the above ground tissue. Salinity-induced surge in ROS production disrupts the redox homeostasisHomeostasis. Increased ROSReactive oxygen species (ROS) level modulates the antioxidant status, thioredoxin and glutaredoxinThioredoxin and glutaredoxin besides central carbon metabolismCarbon metabolism, and several other biochemical mechanisms. Fine-tuning and development of molecular breedingMolecular breeding strategies for improving salinity toleranceSalinity tolerance in crop plants will require the delineation of candidate genes, QTLsQuantitative Trait Loci (QTL), and functional genomicsGenomics approach. The genome improvisation approaches based onClustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR/Cas and other tools have enabled targeted genetic modificationGenetic Modification (GM) of salt responsive traitsTraits and the technology is now used to impart salinity stress tolerance in crop plants.