Soil salinity is a major environmental stress that restricts the growth and yield of crops. Understanding the physiological, metabolic, and biochemical responses of plants to salt stress and mining the salt tolerance-associated genetic resource in nature will be extremely important for us to cultivate salt-tolerant crops. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the mechanisms of salt stress responses in plants, including salt stress-triggered physiological responses, oxidative stress, salt stress sensing and signaling pathways, organellar stress, ion homeostasis, hormonal and gene expression regulation, metabolic changes, as well as salt tolerance mechanisms in halophytes. Important questions regarding salt tolerance that need to be addressed in the future are discussed.

Halophytes are defined as plants that are adapted to live in soils containing high concentrations of salt and benefiting from it, and thus represent an ideal model to understand complex physiological and genetic mechanisms of salinity stress tolerance. It is also known that oxidative stress signalling and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification are both essential components of salinity stress tolerance mechanisms. This paper comprehensively reviews the differences in ROS homeostasis between halophytes and glycophytes in an attempt to answer the questions of whether stress-induced ROS production is similar between halophytes and glycophytes; is the superior salinity tolerance in halophytes attributed to higher antioxidant activity; and is there something special about the specific 'pool' of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in halophytes. We argue that truly salt-tolerant species possessing efficient mechanisms for Na(+) exclusion from the cytosol may not require a high level of antioxidant activity, as they simply do not allow excessive ROS production in the first instance. We also suggest that H2O2 'signatures' may operate in plant signalling networks, in addition to well-known cytosolic calcium 'signatures'. According to the suggested concept, the intrinsically higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in halophytes are required for rapid induction of the H2O2 'signature', and to trigger a cascade of adaptive responses (both genetic and physiological), while the role of other enzymatic antioxidants may be in decreasing the basal levels of H2O2, once the signalling has been processed. Finally, we emphasize the importance of non-enzymatic antioxidants as the only effective means to prevent detrimental effects of hydroxyl radicals on cellular structures.

Phosphorus (P), an essential macronutrient, plays a pivotal role in the growth and development of plants. However, the limited availability of phosphorus in soil presents significant challenges for crop productivity, especially when plants are subjected to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and extreme temperatures. Unraveling the intricate mechanisms through which phosphorus participates in the physiological responses of plants to abiotic stresses is essential to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production systems. This review aims to analyze the influence of phosphorus supply on various aspects of plant growth and plant development under hostile environmental conditions, with a special emphasis on stomatal development and operation. Furthermore, we discuss recently discovered genes associated with P-dependent stress regulation and evaluate the feasibility of implementing P-based agricultural practices to mitigate the adverse effects of abiotic stress. Our objective is to provide molecular and physiological insights into the role of P in regulating plants’ tolerance to abiotic stresses, underscoring the significance of efficient P use strategies for agricultural sustainability. The potential benefits and limitations of P-based strategies and future research directions are also discussed.

Global annual losses in agricultural production from salt-affected land are in excess of US$12 billion and rising. At the same time, a significant amount of arable land is becoming lost to urban sprawl, forcing agricultural production into marginal areas. Consequently, there is a need for a major breakthrough in crop breeding for salinity tolerance. Given the limited range of genetic diversity in this trait within traditional crops, stress tolerance genes and mechanisms must be identified in extremophiles and then introduced into traditional crops. This review argues that learning from halophytes may be a promising way of achieving this goal. The paper is focused around two central questions: what are the key physiological mechanisms conferring salinity tolerance in halophytes that can be introduced into non-halophyte crop species to improve their performance under saline conditions and what specific genes need to be targeted to achieve this goal? The specific traits that are discussed and advocated include: manipulation of trichome shape, size and density to enable their use for external Na⁺ sequestration; increasing the efficiency of internal Na⁺ sequestration in vacuoles by the orchestrated regulation of tonoplast NHX exchangers and slow and fast vacuolar channels, combined with greater cytosolic K⁺ retention; controlling stomata aperture and optimizing water use efficiency by reducing stomatal density; and efficient control of xylem ion loading, enabling rapid shoot osmotic adjustment while preventing prolonged Na⁺ transport to the shoot.