dc.description.abstract | This work is intended as a review of soil salinity as one common abiotic
stress in ecological systems that adversely affect plant growth. In arid and
semi arid areas, saline areas or areas irrigated with saline waters, most
plant species exhibit reductions in growth and yield. The degree of
salinization is a function of several factors including, the length of time
over which the salts have been deposited, frequency of deposition, salt
content of ground water, chemical composition and permeability of the
underlying parent rock. Understanding the ecology of plant growth in
relation to salinity is paramount for breeding and genetic engineering of
salt tolerant plants. Exploitation of natural genetic variations and
generation of transgenic plants with novel genes or altered expression
levels of the existing genes are two major approaches being used to
improve stress tolerance in plants. This paper reviews the occurrence and
effects of salinity on growth of plants. | en_US |