Mechanisms and molecular approaches for salt tolerance enhancement

Abstract

With increasing profound knowledge of biochemical, physiological and molecular responses that are activated by salt stresses, it has now become clear that many of these responses follow the same route of protective mechanism. The mechanism of protection that includes a wide range of responses against salt stress could be achieved by biochemical pathways and mechanisms. Nowadays, soil salinity has become a major tool of curtailment in the production of good yield and growth of various species of crop plants that can feed millions. In this regard, transgenic salt-tolerant plants have been successfully generated with the help of bacterial or plant background salt-tolerant genes; nevertheless, salt tolerance has also been significantly regulated at transcriptional level by means of ‘gene overexpression’ phenomenon and introduction of transcription factors from salt-tolerant background. Currently, genes from salt-tolerant plants or specific prokaryotes have been transferred to salt-sensitive plants to test their effect or expression. These genes are involved in stress (especially salt stress) responses like signalling, transcriptional control, scavenging of ROS and protein protection. Many halophytic plant species have been discovered that help in probing out the determinants of salt tolerance. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview on the various biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved against salt stress.