Meeting review: Energy costs of salinity tolerance in crop plants (New Phytol)

Plants use diverse strategies for salt tolerance, including regulated transport of several different ions and production of compatible organic solutes. In April 2018, a workshop was held to discuss strategies for breeding salt tolerance in plants, with a focus on the energy requirements of various strategies. Some specific approaches for improving salinity tolerance in crops are described here, but clearly pinning down the energy requirements for these various strategies remains a challenge. Workshop participants concluded that “biophysical modelling of salt and water transport in cells, roots, and leaves, incorporating the known transporters and ion gradients, would greatly facilitate our understanding of the energy costs of salinity tolerance in crop plants.” (Summary by Mary Williams) New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.15555