Physiological and molecular mechanisms of salinity tolerance in cereals: I. Fundamentals and methods

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

1 Research Assistant Professor, National Salinity Research Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Yazd, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

4 Research Associate Professor, National Salinity Research Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Yazd, Iran

10.22124/cr.2025.31687.1880

Abstract

Introduction: Cereals, as the main components of the human diet, play a decisive role in ensuring the food security of the world’s population. The production of these crops particularly in arid and semi-arid regions faces numerous challenges, with abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat, and cold capable of significantly reducing their yields. Among these factors, salinity stress is recognized as a major constraint on crop production. The key question is: how are cereals able to perceive environmental cues and activate their defense pathways through intricate regulatory networks to cope with such stress? The aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive overview in understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance in crop plants, with a special focus on cereals.
 
Materials and Methods: This review study, with an innovative and dual approach, covers recent advances in salinity tolerance mechanisms, especially in cereals. The main innovation of this study compared to similar studies is in providing an integrated and step-by-step analytical framework on the physiological and molecular basis of salinity tolerance mechanisms citing the most recent findings.

RResults and Discussion: Salinity stress in most plants typically occurs in two distinct phases, first osmotic stress, followed by ionic toxicity, leading to secondary stresses such as oxidative stress and nutritional imbalances. From a physiological perspective, plants cope with salinity stress by employing effective systems that regulate ion uptake and distribution, maintain osmotic balance, and accumulate protective compounds. At the biochemical level, the activation of antioxidant systems and the production of compatible solutes such as proline are key strategies for mitigating the oxidative stress induced by salinity. At the molecular level, complex networks of transcription factors and functional genes including NHX1, HKT1, SOS, and P5CS are responsible for coordinating the stress response. Key signaling pathways, such as the MAPK cascade and the SOS pathway, play a central role in transducing stress signals and activating defense responses. The molecular processes salt tolerance are coordinated through extensive regulatory networks comprising transcription factors and functional genes. The MAPK and SOS pathways have been extensively studied in cereals, and our understanding of salt tolerance is grounded in research specifically focused on these plants. For instance, the SOS1, SOS2, and SOS3 genes in rice enhance salt tolerance by facilitating sodium ion efflux from cells and preventing ionic toxicity. Furthermore, the accumulation of osmolytic compounds (including proline) and the activation of antioxidant systems play a crucial role in maintaining cellular integrity in plants under salinity stress.

Conclusion: Given the polygenic and complex nature of salt tolerance, integrating physiological, genetic, and molecular mechanisms into breeding programs, along with leveraging genomic approaches, appears essential for developing new salt-tolerant and stable-yielding cereal varieties.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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