Response of hidden architects to salt stress.

Abstract

Main conclusion: The molecular mechanisms involved in root architecture is crucial for developing crops with better salt stress tolerance are reviewed. Unraveling the intricate salt tolerance mechanisms is crucial to developing crop plants that can survive and produce superior yields. Soil salinity impacts predominantly root and shoot growth, thereby diminishing the final yields. Salt stress incites far-reaching consequences at the root meristem level. Hence it is essential to delineate the alterations in root anatomy resulting from salt stress and maintenance of the root meristem is essential for plants to achieve stress tolerance. This review addresses the contemporary comprehension of salinity and the adverse conditions under which plants thrive by regulating root tropism (halotropism), fluctuations in apoplastic pH, and their effects on root response outcomes, as well as the hormonal modulation of root growth and architecture. The complex interplay of auxin crosstalk with ABA and other hormones in conferring salt tolerance has been discussed. The position-dependent signaling events and feedback loops regulated through specific transcription factors that are critical for root remodeling and stress mitigation have been highlighted. The insights thus far generated may help to develop strategies for breeding crop plants with desired salt-tolerant traits with higher productivity.