Advances on exogenous applications of brassinosteroids and their analogs to enhance plant tolerance to salinity: A review

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the abiotic stresses, which reduces plant growth and limits crop productivity. Brassinosteroids are considered as the sixth class of plant hormones and they have pleiotropic effects on plants, among them, they can protect plants under abiotic stresses and especially under salt stress. This paper reviews the information published during the last sixteen years related to the effects of brassinosteroids and their spirostanic analogs in plants submitted to saline stress when they are used by means of seed treatments, through the application of foliar sprays or by rooting media. Brassinosteroids stimulated salt stress tolerance in plants is associated to a decrease of oxidative damage generated by this stress and the interaction between brassinosteroids and other plant hormones, for example: abscisic acid, ethylene and salicylic acid.