Adaptive and Tolerance Mechanism of Plants to Salt Stress

Mullangi Sridhar Reddy, Osman Basha Pinjari

Abstract: Salt tolerance can be expressed as a percentage of biomass produced in saline soil relative to plants growing in non - saline soils over a specific period. Salt stress causes a series of physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes, including the synthesis of specific proteins, free radical scavenging enzymes, SOS signaling pathway, osmolytes intensification, development of specific ion channels, and so on. Plants' tolerance to salt stress is the result of the coordination of multiple stress - responsive genes, which may also interact with other components of stress signal transduction pathways. The search for salt - tolerant germplasm is critical for developing new varieties for secure sustainable agriculture, particularly in semi - arid areas with harsh climatic conditions. In recent decades, conventional breeding has contributed substantially to crop development. Molecular breeding approach can help to reduce time to develop new varieties in much shorter time for this understanding of salt tolerance molecular mechanism is essential. This chapter describes the biochemical response, physiological response, various ion pumps, and signal transduction pathways under salt - stress condition.

Keywords: Salt stress tolerance, Adaptive mechanism, Salt stress response, Osmolytes