Abstract

Extreme climate variations and population increases pose considerable obstacles to global food security. In the near future, addressing the issues of hunger and a growing population involves breeding and/or genetically engineering crops to withstand abiotic stress while achieving higher yields. Plants respond to salt levels through strategies such as maintaining ion balance, regulating osmotic pressure, activating antioxidant defense mechanisms, and signalling through phytohormones, all of which help to counteract ion toxicity and osmotic stress. Despite ongoing initiatives, progress in breeding and rigorously selecting crops that are tolerant to salt has been minimal. Additionally, the untapped genetic diversity present in crop landraces and their wild counterparts remains largely uncharted. Exploring new genes from the wild relatives of crops offers an exciting chance to discover better salt-tolerant haplotypes. Biotechnology methods for precision breeding have a strong potential to speed up the creation of salt-resistant cultivars. This review intends to examine unique salt-tolerant genes and the use of contemporary biotechnological techniques to improve salinity tolerance in crops.

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