Plant tissue culture: A useful measure for the screening of salt tolerance in plants

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the most important problems worldwide, which has decreased crop production to a great extent. The major or deleterious effects of salinity on plant growth and development are associated with low osmotic potential of soil solution, nutritional imbalance etc. Consequently these can ultimately lead to plant death because of growth arrest and molecular damage. Salt stress affects all the major processes such as photosynthesis, protein synthesis, lipid metabolism etc. The use of plant cell and tissue culture offers a means to focus on those physiological and biochemical processes inherent to cell which contribute to the adaptation to salt stress. The response depends on the species and the genotype, the length and the severity of the salt stress, the age and stage of development, the organ and cell type. In this article, various in vitro strategies have been made for salt tolerance. Effect of salinity on biochemical and antioxidant properties of plants have also been highlighted. The chapter also covers the role of genetic transformation for the development of salt tolerance in plants.