Proteomics Perspectives in Post-Genomic Era for Producing Salinity Stress-Tolerant Crops

Abstract

Plant growth and productivity are affected by both biotic and abiotic stress factors. Among the abiotic stresses, salt stress is the most prevalent and deleterious environmental factor which limits crop yield globally. Combined with the increasing population and food demands, this poses a great challenge to humanity. Currently, salinity affects more than 20% of the irrigated land. This is estimated to increase drastically in the near future due to the excessive irrigation practices. These factors have necessitated the researchers to understand the salt tolerance mechanisms in plants in order to use various approaches to generate salt-tolerant crops. Due to their sessile nature, plants cannot evade the stressful environment, and therefore, some species have evolved various adaptive strategies to grow and reproduce under unfavorable environments. Salt stress imparts both osmotic and ionic stress to the plants, affecting their metabolism and ion homeostasis, thereby leading to reduced growth and productivity and death in some cases. Salt tolerance is a complex phenomenon involving changes in the biochemical, molecular, and physiological processes of the plant. These changes consisting of a readjustment in the genomic and proteomic complement of the plants are imperative in unraveling the tolerance mechanisms. Recent advances in the omics research have shed more light on a range of promising candidate genes and proteins that render salt tolerance to plants. In this chapter, we describe the general effects of salt stress, the tolerance mechanisms of plants, and how recent advances in the field of proteomics can be utilized to enhance salt tolerance of crop plants.