Iron acquisition and saline-alkaline tolerance in rice

Soil saline-alkalization is a major abiotic stress to agriculture worldwide, causing considerable damage to crop growth and loss of crop productivity. In alkaline soil, iron availability to plants also becomes very limiting. This paper explores the physiological and molecular mechanisms of rice plant’s tolerance to saline-alkaline conditions. Li et al. show that the rice genotype showing tolerance to saline-alkaline conditions also has higher expression levels of iron (Fe) deficiency responsive genes in both Fe deficient and saline-alkaline conditions than a sensitive genotype. Overall, this paper suggest that efficient Fe acquisition by plants growing in saline-alkaline soils is an important trait to enable them to tolerate saline-alkaline stress. (Summary by Mather Khan) J. Exp. Bot. 10.1093/jxb/erw407