Molecular basis of salinity stress tolerance in wheat: implications for crop resilience

Wheat, an important staple crop providing food and nutrition worldwide, is aptly called the "King of Cereals". Salinization is a process when soil is tainted with salt that consequently impacts the growth and development of plants, which leads to a decline in the yield of many food crops. The present study provides a brief impression about salinity stress on physiological and molecular processes, which affects the plants' growth and development. Salinity stress in crop plants is responsible for various metabolic and physiological changes. In this study we summarize the genes and molecular mechanism involved in ion transport like Sodium/hydrogen antiporter exchanger (NHXs), High-affinity potassium transporters (HKTs) and osmolytes that causes nutritional disturbance and inhibits the process of uptake of water by roots, seed germination, photosynthesis, and declines the growth of plants. Salinity in wheat inhibits the spike development and yield potential of crop plants, lower yield production is particularly related to a decrease in tiller numbers and by sterile spikelets in some cultivars. Future studies should focus on crop tolerance to salinity to gain better understanding of crop tolerance in saline field conditions. Global cereal production is hampered by soil salinity and sodicity, but tolerance breeding has also been sluggish. Narrow gene pools, an overemphasis on the sodium exclusion mechanism, a lack of awareness against stress tissue tolerance mechanisms in which aggregation of inorganic ions such as Na⁺ is involved, and the lack of appropriate screening tools, which leads to slowed development. This review summarizes current knowledge and emphasizes the need for integrative strategies to enhance wheat resilience under saline conditions.