Understanding the Integrated Pathways and Mechanisms of Transporters, Protein Kinases, and Transcription Factors in Plants under Salt Stress

Figure 3

Mechanism of salinity tolerance in plants. The excess influx of sodium causes ion toxicity and water deficit, which results in the closure of stomata and decreased availability of CO₂ for photosynthetic ETC. This water deficit eventually causes ion imbalance and overproduction of ROS in chloroplast, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and apoplastic space. In response, the plants increase enzymatic/non enzymatic antioxidants and osmolytes. Transporters like NHX sequester Na⁺ inside the vacuole and SOS1 extrudes Na⁺ outside the cell. In this response, there is an increased expression of salt-responsive genes, transcription factors (TFs), and kinases inside the cell, which help the plants to alleviate the stresses encountered by them.