Metabolomics and Salt Stress Tolerance in Plants

Abstract

Salinity is one of the most serious factors limiting the productivity of agricultural crops, with adverse effects on germination, plant vigor, and crop yield. During the onset and development of salt stress within a plant, all the major processes such as photosynthesis, protein synthesis, and energy and lipid metabolism are affected, thereby, increasing or decreasing the levels of different metabolites involved in various metabolic processes. The universality of stress responses is probably the most salient feature in plants. The network of interactions between different inputs and signaling channels that is formed in a plant-specific way drives metabolic adjustments that include reactions that are common to all or nearly all plant species. The advancement of metabolomics is providing a detailed fingerprint of metabolites upregulated or downregulated in plant cells during adverse environmental conditions. This database may generate information for the dissection of the plant response to salinity and try to find future applications for ameliorating the impact of salinity on plants, improving the performance of species important to human health and agricultural sustainability.