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.2026.32537.1886
Abstract
Introduction: Salinity, as one of the most significant limiting factors for the growth and production of strategic crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, poses a serious threat to global food security. Given the high cost and time-consuming nature of physical remediation of saline soils, developing tolerant varieties through breeding programs is the most effective and economical approach to addressing this challenge. In this regard, understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms of salt tolerance is essential for generating new, salt-tolerant genotypes. The aim of the present study was to review recent advances and investigate the application of modern breeding technologies to accelerate the development of salt-tolerant varieties in crop plants, particularly cereals.
Materials and Methods: This review study systematically describes the application of novel biotechnologies including the integration of omics tools, genomic mapping, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and genome editing to efficiently transfer identified genes and QTLs into elite genotypes and to expedite breeding programs.
Results and Discussion: Marker-assisted selection is an efficient breeding method that, instead of relying solely on phenotype, enables the selection of superior genotypes using DNA banding patterns at early stages of organism development. By reducing environmental influence, this approach enhances the accuracy and speed of breeding programs and significantly shortens the breeding cycle, which in classical methods may take approximately eight to ten years. The successful application of MAS has been demonstrated in transferring QTLs such as Saltol to improve salt tolerance in rice. Furthermore, the effective role of this method has been shown in crops such as wheat and maize for overcoming abiotic stresses, including salinity. However, MAS has limited efficiency for complex quantitative traits controlled by genes or QTLs with small effects. Today, more advanced approaches such as genomic selection (GS), CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing, and high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) are being employed as complementary strategies to enhance the precision and speed of breeding programs aimed at developing varieties tolerant to environmental stresses such as salinity.
Conclusion: Modern plant breeding tools such as marker-assisted selection, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and particularly omics technologies (transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) as well as genome editing have revolutionized the process of identifying and transferring desirable genes into crop plants. These technologies enable gene pyramiding and the simultaneous transfer of multiple salt-tolerance genes with high precision and speed.
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