Influence of salinity stress on plants and their molecular mechanisms

Salt stress is one of the major threats to sustainable agriculture as it is considered as an external environmental constraint that limits growth and productivity of plants. It is more common in arid regions due to excessive evaporation which causes accumulation of inorganic salts that disrupts the plant metabolism. It also increases the negative influence of drought stress as plants being unable to absorb water due to osmotic effects. It disrupts the normal functioning of the plants and triggers secondary stresses resulting in oxidative burst. Thereby, plants adaptation to salt stress,a rely on signals and pathways that helps plant in establishing cellular ionic and osmotic homeostasis. Additionally, Stress-responsive transcription factors play crucial roles in salt stress responses and tolerance. The main transcription factors includes bZIP, AP2/ERF, WRKY, NAC, bHLH, and MYB families, for the mediation of stress response.