Balasubramaniam Thuvaraki, Shen Guoxin, Esmaeili Nardana, Zhang Hong
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.
Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Jun 8;12(12):2253. doi: 10.3390/plants12122253.
Soil salinization is a severe abiotic stress that negatively affects plant growth and development, leading to physiological abnormalities and ultimately threatening global food security. The condition arises from excessive salt accumulation in the soil, primarily due to anthropogenic activities such as irrigation, improper land uses, and overfertilization. The presence of Na⁺, Cl, and other related ions in the soil above normal levels can disrupt plant cellular functions and lead to alterations in essential metabolic processes such as seed germination and photosynthesis, causing severe damage to plant tissues and even plant death in the worst circumstances. To counteract the effects of salt stress, plants have developed various mechanisms, including modulating ion homeostasis, ion compartmentalization and export, and the biosynthesis of osmoprotectants. Recent advances in genomic and proteomic technologies have enabled the identification of genes and proteins involved in plant salt-tolerance mechanisms. This review provides a short overview of the impact of salinity stress on plants and the underlying mechanisms of salt-stress tolerance, particularly the functions of salt-stress-responsive genes associated with these mechanisms. This review aims at summarizing recent advances in our understanding of salt-stress tolerance mechanisms, providing the key background knowledge for improving crops' salt tolerance, which could contribute to the yield and quality enhancement in major crops grown under saline conditions or in arid and semiarid regions of the world.
土壤盐渍化是一种严重的非生物胁迫，对植物的生长发育产生负面影响，导致生理异常，最终威胁全球粮食安全。这种情况是由于土壤中盐分过度积累所致，主要源于灌溉、不当土地利用和过度施肥等人为活动。土壤中Na⁺、Cl⁻及其他相关离子含量超过正常水平会扰乱植物细胞功能，导致种子萌发和光合作用等基本代谢过程发生改变，在最严重的情况下会对植物组织造成严重损害甚至导致植物死亡。为了对抗盐胁迫的影响，植物已经进化出各种机制，包括调节离子稳态、离子区室化和输出以及渗透保护剂的生物合成。基因组学和蛋白质组学技术的最新进展使得鉴定参与植物耐盐机制的基因和蛋白质成为可能。本综述简要概述了盐胁迫对植物的影响以及耐盐胁迫的潜在机制，特别是与这些机制相关的盐胁迫响应基因的功能。本综述旨在总结我们对耐盐胁迫机制理解的最新进展，为提高作物耐盐性提供关键背景知识，这有助于提高在盐碱条件下或世界干旱和半干旱地区种植的主要作物的产量和品质。
