insight into plant’s physiology growing under stress conditions and thereby helps
to develop stress-tolerant plants. In recent years, several salt-tolerant plants have
also been developed using a transgenic approach involving genes involved in the
biosynthesis of individual phytohormones. This chapter reviews in brief about the
approaches used in the development of salt-stress-tolerant plants.
Keywords
Jasmonic acid · Phytohormones · Reactive oxygen species · Salt stress · Salicylic
acid · Transgenic
9.1
Introduction
Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy and will continue to do so for a
long time. It meets the food requirements of a large population of our country.
However, it is observed that the yield of various crop plants is greatly affected by
stress factors, both biotic (pests, rodents, etc.) and abiotic factors (salinity, temperature, drought, etc.), prevailing in their environment. A large-scale agricultural loss
has been observed due to these abiotic stress factors (Boyer 1982). Among all these
stress factors, salinity is a major factor that limits the growth and productivity of
plants. About 6.74 million hectares of land is salinity affected in India and this
proportion is estimated to increase to 16.2 million hectares by 2050 (CSSRI 2015).
Salinity affects the growth and productivity of plants greatly as it leads to osmotic
stress, ionic imbalance, ionic toxicity, reduction in gaseous exchanges, etc. and
increases susceptibility to other stresses. Osmotic stress degrades the ability of a
plant under stress to detoxify reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS cause immense
damage to proteins, lipids, etc. that leads to membrane disintegration and even cell
death (Gill and Tuteja 2010). In order to develop salinity-tolerant plants, it is
essential to have detailed information regarding the metabolism, functioning and
responses of plants under salinity. Different approaches have been adopted within
the past few years to develop plants that are tolerant to the various environmental
stresses (Jisha et al. 2013; Tran et al. 2010). Due to the complexity associated with
salinity tolerance, limited success is achieved to develop salt-tolerant plants through
breeding but with genetic engineering, it is possible to do so. Scientists also have
tested the potential of phytohormones in alleviating the harmful effects of salinity by
regulating various plants’ processes. Having a complete understanding of molecular
mechanisms and genes associated with salt tolerance, it is possible to develop plants
with salt tolerance using transgenic technology. To sum up, the different techniques
being used to alleviate the harmful effects of salt stress are transgenic approach/
genetic engineering, invitro-strategies, phytohormone application, etc. In the present
book chapter, we emphasise on different strategies that have been used to alleviate
the harmful effects of salinity which thereby results in the production of salinitytolerant plants.
280
A. Mahajan et al.
to develop stress-tolerant plants. In recent years, several salt-tolerant plants have
also been developed using a transgenic approach involving genes involved in the
biosynthesis of individual phytohormones. This chapter reviews in brief about the
approaches used in the development of salt-stress-tolerant plants.
Keywords
Jasmonic acid · Phytohormones · Reactive oxygen species · Salt stress · Salicylic
acid · Transgenic
9.1
Introduction
Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy and will continue to do so for a
long time. It meets the food requirements of a large population of our country.
However, it is observed that the yield of various crop plants is greatly affected by
stress factors, both biotic (pests, rodents, etc.) and abiotic factors (salinity, temperature, drought, etc.), prevailing in their environment. A large-scale agricultural loss
has been observed due to these abiotic stress factors (Boyer 1982). Among all these
stress factors, salinity is a major factor that limits the growth and productivity of
plants. About 6.74 million hectares of land is salinity affected in India and this
proportion is estimated to increase to 16.2 million hectares by 2050 (CSSRI 2015).
Salinity affects the growth and productivity of plants greatly as it leads to osmotic
stress, ionic imbalance, ionic toxicity, reduction in gaseous exchanges, etc. and
increases susceptibility to other stresses. Osmotic stress degrades the ability of a
plant under stress to detoxify reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS cause immense
damage to proteins, lipids, etc. that leads to membrane disintegration and even cell
death (Gill and Tuteja 2010). In order to develop salinity-tolerant plants, it is
essential to have detailed information regarding the metabolism, functioning and
responses of plants under salinity. Different approaches have been adopted within
the past few years to develop plants that are tolerant to the various environmental
stresses (Jisha et al. 2013; Tran et al. 2010). Due to the complexity associated with
salinity tolerance, limited success is achieved to develop salt-tolerant plants through
breeding but with genetic engineering, it is possible to do so. Scientists also have
tested the potential of phytohormones in alleviating the harmful effects of salinity by
regulating various plants’ processes. Having a complete understanding of molecular
mechanisms and genes associated with salt tolerance, it is possible to develop plants
with salt tolerance using transgenic technology. To sum up, the different techniques
being used to alleviate the harmful effects of salt stress are transgenic approach/
genetic engineering, invitro-strategies, phytohormone application, etc. In the present
book chapter, we emphasise on different strategies that have been used to alleviate
the harmful effects of salinity which thereby results in the production of salinitytolerant plants.
280
A. Mahajan et al.