Assessment of Deleterious Effects of Salinity Stress on Wheat (Triticum aestivum var. HD-3086) Plants

Abstract

Salinity is a severe abiotic environmental problem in soil which restricts the growth, alters physiological processes and ultimately causing death of salt-sensitive plants. The high concentration of salts in soil alters plant water relationship due to osmotic and ionic stress in plants. The osmotic stress affects even the germination of seeds due to restriction of entry of water inside seeds while the intrusion of high sodium and chloride ions inside the cell causes ionic stress leading to production of reaction oxygen species causing oxidative damage to cellular components, mainly to the membrane lipids and other biomolecules like protein and DNA etc. Under salt stress conditions plants also respond to salinity stress by different adaptive mechanisms like exclusion of salt entry in root cells, accumulation of excess cellular salt in vacuoles, excretion of salts by salt glands, synthesis of osmolytes like glycine-betaine, proline and increased activity of components of antioxidative defense system etc. These mechanisms help the plants to survive under such environmental conditions but the responses to salinity are more pronounced in salt tolerant plants.