Abstract
Soil salinization, which is aggravated by climate change and inappropriate anthropogenic activities, has emerged as a serious environmental problem, threatening sustainable agriculture and future food security. Although there has been considerable progress in developing crop varieties by introducing salt tolerance-associated traits, most crop cultivars grown in saline soils still exhibit a decline in yield, necessitating the search for alternatives. Halophytes, with their intrinsic salt tolerance characteristics, are known to have great potential in rehabilitating salt-contaminated soils to support plant growth in saline soils by employing various strategies, including phytoremediation. In addition, the recent identification and characterization of salt tolerance-related genes encoding signaling components from halophytes, which are naturally grown under high salinity, have paved the way for the development of transgenic crops with improved salt tolerance. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive update on salinity-induced negative effects on soils and plants, including alterations of physicochemical properties in soils, and changes in physiological and biochemical processes and ion disparities in plants. We also review the physiological and biochemical adaptation strategies that help halophytes grow and survive in salinity-affected areas. Furthermore, we illustrate the halophyte-mediated phytoremediation process in salinity-affected areas, as well as their potential impacts on soil properties. Importantly, based on the recent findings on salt tolerance mechanisms in halophytes, we also comprehensively discuss the potential of improving salt tolerance in crop plants by introducing candidate genes related to antiporters, ion transporters, antioxidants, and defense proteins from halophytes for conserving sustainable agriculture in salinity-prone areas.
Highlights
Some plants, such as halophytes, comprising only
Considering the above facts, the present review focuses on the latest update of the adverse effects of salinity both on soils and plants, as well as the intrinsic physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms that halophytes employ to adapt under salinity
C. maritima exposed to 400 mM sodium chloride (NaCl) showed that proline, glycine betaine and gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) significantly accumulated, while sugar levels surprisingly decreased, indicating that amino acids and amino acids-derived molecules played the primary roles in osmoprotection to cope with salt stress in this halophyte [97]
Summary
The traditional crops cannot deploy salt tolerance potential to survive in salinity-affected soils, and a wide range of genetic diversity for salt tolerance in conventional crops, even local landraces, remains elusive. Some plants, such as halophytes, comprising only
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