Salt stress affects large cultivated areas worldwide, thus causing remarkable reductions in plant growth and yield. To reduce the negative effects of salt stress on plant growth and yield, plant hormones, nutrient absorption, and utilization, as well as developing salt-tolerant varieties and enhancing their morpho-physiological activities, are some integrative approaches to coping with the increasing incidence of salt stress. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the critical impacts of these integrative approaches on plant growth and yield. However, a comprehensive review of these integrative approaches, that regulate plant growth and yield under salt stress, is still in its early stages. The review focused on the major issues of nutrient absorption and utilization by plants, as well as the development of salt tolerance varieties under salt stress. In addition, we explained the effects of these integrative approaches on the crop’s growth and yield, illustrated the roles that phytohormones play in improving morpho-physiological activities, and identified some relevant genes involve in these integrative approaches when the plant is subjected to salt stress. The current review demonstrated that HA with K enhance plant morpho-physiological activities and soil properties. In addition, NRT and NPF genes family enhance nutrients uptake, NHX1, SOS1, TaNHX, AtNHX1, KDML, RD6, and SKC1, maintain ion homeostasis and membrane integrity to cope with the adverse effects of salt stress, and sd1/Rht1, AtNHX1, BnaMAX1s, ipal-1D, and sft improve the plant growth and yield in different plants. The primary purpose of this investigation is to provide a comprehensive review of the performance of various strategies under salt stress, which might assist in further interpreting the mechanisms that plants use to regulate plant growth and yield under salt stress.

全球盐碱化日益严重，导致耕地退化加剧，严重威胁植物生长。本研究概述了盐碱地土壤中盐离子的组成与分布特征，阐明了盐胁迫对植物生长、光合作用、根际分泌物及微生物群落的不利影响，总结了当前缓解植物盐胁迫的化学、物理及微生物调控方法。在此基础上，分析了现有研究中存在的盐分评价标准不统一、土壤离子组成复杂性等关键问题，提出了分区域建立分级标准、构建土壤盐分变化时间空间动态模型的建议。展望未来，在微生物调控领域，合成菌群(SynComs)凭借其功能协同性、生态稳定性、综合效益及技术可扩展性等优势，有望成为盐碱地改良研究与应用的重要方向。本研究可为盐碱地改良及植物耐盐性提升提供理论依据和技术支撑。

土壤盐渍化对全球粮食安全和生态环境构成严重威胁，培育耐盐作物品种，提升作物耐盐性能够有效应对盐渍化胁迫甚至开发盐碱地利用。本文基于植物耐盐分子机制的解析，聚焦作物耐盐育种前沿技术，系统阐述多组学联合分析、基因编辑、根际促生菌、表观遗传修饰等技术原理及其在作物耐盐育种中的应用成果，这些前沿技术为作物耐盐育种注入强大动力，通过技术融合与创新，有望快速精准培育耐盐作物新品种，推动盐碱地农业高效可持续发展。

Peanut is one of the most important oil crops in the world, the growth and productivity of which are severely affected by salt stress. 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) plays an important role in stress resistances. However, the roles of exogenous EBL on the salt tolerance of peanut remain unclear. In this study, peanut seedlings treated with 150 mM NaCl and with or without EBL spray were performed to investigate the roles of EBL on salt resistance. Under 150 mM NaCl conditions, foliar application of 0.1 µM EBL increased the activity of catalase and thereby could eliminate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Similarly, EBL application promoted the accumulation of proline and soluble sugar, thus maintaining osmotic balance. Furthermore, foliar EBL spray enhanced the total chlorophyll content and high photosynthesis capacity. Transcriptome analysis showed that under NaCl stress, EBL treatment up-regulated expression levels of genes encoding peroxisomal nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide carrier (PMP34), probable sucrose-phosphate synthase 2 (SPS2) beta-fructofuranosidase (BFRUCT1) and Na+/H+ antiporters (NHX7 and NHX8), while down-regulated proline dehydrogenase 2 (PRODH). These findings provide valuable resources for salt resistance study in peanut and lay the foundation for using BR to enhance salt tolerance during peanut production.

HR (hairy root) has emerged as a valuable tissue for the rapid characterization of plant gene function and enzyme activity in vivo. AhGLK1 (Arachis hypogaea L. golden2-like 1) is known to play a role in post-drought recovery. However, it is unclear (a) whether HR has properties that are distinct from those of PR (primary root); and (b) which gene networks are regulated by AhGLK1 in response to drought stress and recovery in peanut.We found that cells of the root tip cortex were larger in HR than in PR, while a total of 850 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in HR compared to PR. Eighty-eight of these DEGs, relating to chlorophyll and photosynthesis, were upregulated in HR. In addition, AhGLK1-OX (AhGLK1-overexpressing) HR showed a green phenotype, and had a higher relative water content than 35 S::eGFP (control) HR during drought stress. RNA-seq analysis showed that 74 DEGs involved both in the drought response and the post-drought recovery process were significantly enriched in the galactose metabolism pathway. GO terms enrichment analysis revealed that 59.19%, 29.79% and 17.02% of the DEGs mapped to the 'biological process' (BP), 'molecular function' (MF) and 'cellular component' (CC) domains, respectively. Furthermore, 20 DEGs involved in post-drought recovery were uniquely expressed in AhGLK1-OX HR and were significantly enriched in the porphyrin metabolism pathway. GO analysis showed that 42.42%, 30.30% and 27.28% of DEGs could be assigned to the BP, MF and CC domains, respectively. Transcription factors including bHLH and MYB family members may play a key role during drought stress and recovery.Our data reveal that HR has some of the characteristics of leaves, indicating that HR is suitable for studying genes that are mainly expressed in leaves. The RNA-seq results are consistent with previous studies that show chlorophyll synthesis and photosynthesis to be critical for the role of AhGLK1 in improving post-drought recovery growth in peanut. These findings provide in-depth insights that will be of great utility for the exploration of candidate gene functions in relation to drought tolerance and/or post-drought recovery ability in peanut.© 2023. The Author(s).

不同花生品种的耐盐能力各有差异, 本研究以耐盐花生品种花育25 (Huayu 25, HY25)和盐敏感品种花育20 (Huayu 20, HY20)为材料, 利用非损伤微测技术, 测定盐胁迫下花生幼苗根尖中Na⁺、K⁺、Ca²⁺、NH₄⁺、NO₃^-、Cl^-的流速; 并同期检测了幼苗的生长性状、主要耐盐基因的表达及渗透调节物质(可溶性糖、脯氨酸)含量的变化, 以明确花生的耐盐能力与离子吸收、转运及抗逆调控的关系。结果表明: (1) 盐胁迫下Na⁺内流减弱, 外排速率增加, K⁺内流提高, 但是相对而言, HY25的Na⁺外排速率及K⁺内流速率均高于HY20, 表明HY25通过排Na⁺保K⁺提高耐盐性; (2) 盐胁迫促进Ca²⁺迅速内流, 并且耐盐品种比盐敏感品种Ca²⁺内流速率更高, 可能与耐盐有关; (3) 盐胁迫导致两品种NO₃^-外排, 但耐盐品种HY25的外排流速更低, 表明HY25可通过减缓NO₃^-的流失以抵御盐胁迫的危害; (4) 盐胁迫促使耐盐品种HY25 Cl^-外排, 但盐敏感品种Cl^-的内流速率提高, 表明HY25可通过加快Cl^-的外排减轻Cl^-的毒害; (5) 盐胁迫显著诱导耐盐品种HY25耐盐相关基因AhNHX1、AhHA1、AhSAMDC1、AhLeaD的表达, 可帮助其提高盐耐受性。综上, HY25的高耐盐能力与较强的离子稳态和较高的耐盐基因表达量密切相关。明确盐胁迫下花生根系的离子流动规律和抗逆机制, 将为改善盐碱地花生出苗、立苗、健苗及其调控技术的建立提供理论支撑。

Graphene oxide (GO), beyond its specialized industrial applications, is rapidly gaining prominence as a nanomaterial for modern agriculture. However, its specific effects on seed priming for salinity tolerance and yield formation in crops remain elusive. Under both pot-grown and field-grown conditions, this study combined physiological indices with transcriptomics and metabolomics to investigate how GO affects seed germination, seedling salinity tolerance, and peanut pod yield. Peanut seeds were firstly treated with 400 mg L⁻¹ GO (termed GO priming). At seed germination stage, GO-primed seeds exhibited higher germination rate and percentage of seeds with radicals breaking through the testa. Meanwhile, omics analyses revealed significant enrichment in pathways associated with carbon and nitrogen metabolisms in GO-primed seeds. At seedling stage, GO priming contributed to strengthening plant growth, enhancing photosynthesis, maintaining the integrity of plasma membrane, and promoting the nutrient accumulation in peanut seedlings under 200 mM NaCl stress. Moreover, GO priming increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, along with reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to salinity stress. Furthermore, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) of peanut seedlings under GO priming were mainly related to photosynthesis, phytohormones, antioxidant system, and carbon and nitrogen metabolisms in response to soil salinity. At maturity, GO priming showed an average increase in peanut pod yield by 12.91% compared with non-primed control. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that GO plays distinguish roles in enhancing seed germination, mitigating salinity stress, and boosting pod yield in peanut plants via modulating multiple physiological processes.© 2024. The Author(s).

为改善黄河三角洲滨海盐碱地种植结构, 扩大花生种植面积, 本研究以22个育成的花生品种(系)为材料, 测定了全生育期9个性状指标, 利用方差分析、相关分析、聚类分析等进行耐盐碱鉴定及耐盐碱指标筛选。结果表明, 盐碱胁迫显著降低花生成苗率, 明显抑制花生的生长发育和产量形成, 不同品种(系)间在9个鉴定指标上存在较大差异。相对单株产量和相对小区产量均与相对地上部干重、相对主茎高、相对侧枝长呈显著正相关, 相对小区产量与相对成苗率、相对地下部干重、相对单株产量显著正相关。全部材料可划分为4个耐盐碱级别, 其中高度耐盐碱7份(I级)、较耐盐碱11份(II级)、盐碱胁迫敏感3份(III级)、高度敏感1份(IV级)。筛选出花育9307、花育9312、花育9313、6P03、花育9305及花育6303等适于盐碱地种植的高产品种(系)。本研究表明, 相对地上部干重、相对主茎高、相对成苗率、相对单株产量、相对侧枝长、相对地下部干重可作为简单、直观的花生耐盐碱鉴定指标。

Chlorophyll is the main photosynthetic pigment and is crucial for plant photosynthesis. Leaf color mutants are widely used to identify genes involved in the synthesis or metabolism of chlorophyll. In this study, a spontaneous mutant, yellow-green leaf 19 (ygl19), was isolated from rice (Oryza sativa). This ygl19 mutant showed yellow-green leaves and decreased chlorophyll level and net photosynthetic rate. Brown necrotic spots appeared on the surface of ygl19 leaves at the tillering stage. And the agronomic traits of the ygl19 mutant, including the plant height, tiller number per plant, and total number of grains per plant, were significantly reduced. Map-based cloning revealed that the candidate YGL19 gene was LOC_Os03g21370. Complementation of the ygl19 mutant with the wild-type CDS of LOC_Os03g21370 led to the restoration of the mutant to the normal phenotype. Evolutionary analysis revealed that YGL19 protein and its homologues were unique for photoautotrophs, containing a conserved Ycf54 functional domain. A conserved amino acid substitution from proline to serine on the Ycf54 domain led to the ygl19 mutation. Sequence analysis of the YGL19 gene in 4726 rice accessions found that the YGL19 gene was conserved in natural rice variants with no resulting amino acid variation. The YGL19 gene was mainly expressed in green tissues, especially in leaf organs. And the YGL19 protein was localized in the chloroplast for function. Gene expression analysis via qRT-PCR showed that the expression levels of tetrapyrrole synthesis-related genes and photosynthesis-related genes were regulated in the ygl19 mutant. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide accumulated in spotted leaves of the ygl19 mutant at the tillering stage, accompanied by the regulation of ROS scavenging enzyme-encoding genes and ROS-responsive defense signaling genes. This study demonstrates that a novel yellow-green leaf gene YGL19 affects tetrapyrrole biosynthesis, photosynthesis, and ROS metabolism in rice.

Salinity is a growing problem affecting soils and agriculture in many parts of the world. The presence of salt in plant cells disrupts many basic metabolic processes, contributing to severe negative effects on plant development and growth. This review focuses on the effects of salinity on chloroplasts, including the structures and function of these organelles. Chloroplasts house various important biochemical reactions, including photosynthesis, most of which are considered essential for plant survival. Salinity can affect these reactions in a number of ways, for example, by changing the chloroplast size, number, lamellar organization, lipid and starch accumulation, and interfering with cross-membrane transportation. Research has shown that maintenance of the normal chloroplast physiology is necessary for the survival of the entire plant. Many plant species have evolved different mechanisms to withstand the harmful effects of salt-induced toxicity on their chloroplasts and its machinery. The differences depend on the plant species and growth stage and can be quite different between salt-sensitive (glycophyte) and salt-tolerant (halophyte) plants. Salt stress tolerance is a complex trait, and many aspects of salt tolerance in plants are not entirely clear yet. In this review, we discuss the different mechanisms of salt stress tolerance in plants with a special focus on chloroplast structure and its functions, including the underlying differences between glycophytes and halophytes.

Soil salinity is one of the adversity stresses plants face, and antioxidant defense mechanisms play an essential role in plant resistance. We investigated the effects of exogenous calcium on the antioxidant defense system in peanut seedling roots that are under salt stress by using indices including the transcriptome and absolute quantitative metabolome of flavonoids. Under salt stress conditions, the antioxidant defense capacity of enzymatic systems was weakened and the antioxidant capacity of the linked AsA-GSH cycle was effectively inhibited. In contrast, the ascorbate biosynthesis pathway and its upstream glycolysis metabolism pathway became active, which stimulated shikimate biosynthesis and the downstream phenylpropanoid metabolism pathway, resulting in an increased accumulation of flavonoids, which, as one of the antioxidants in the non-enzymatic system, provide hydroxyl radicals to scavenge the excess reactive oxygen species and maintain the plant’s vital activities. However, the addition of exogenous calcium caused changes in the antioxidant defense system in the peanut root system. The activity of antioxidant enzymes and the antioxidant capacity of the AsA-GSH cycle were enhanced. Therefore, glycolysis and phenylpropanoid metabolism do not exert antioxidant function, and flavonoids were no longer synthesized. In addition, antioxidant enzymes and the AsA-GSH cycle showed a trade-off relationship with sugars and flavonoids.

Soil salinization is a widespread hindrance that endangers agricultural production and ecological security. High salt concentrations in saline soils are primarily caused by osmotic stress, ionic toxicity and oxidative stress, which have a negative impact on plant growth and development. In order to withstand salt stress, plants have developed a series of complicated physiological and molecular mechanisms, encompassing adaptive changes in the structure and function of various plant organs, as well as the intricate signal transduction networks enabling plants to survive in high-salinity environments. This review summarizes the recent advances in salt perception under different tissues, physiological responses and signaling regulations of plant tolerance to salt stress. We also examine the current knowledge of strategies for breeding salt-tolerant plants, including the applications of omics technologies and transgenic approaches, aiming to provide the basis for the cultivation of salt-tolerant crops through molecular breeding. Finally, future research on the application of wild germplasm resources and muti-omics technologies to discover new tolerant genes as well as investigation of crosstalk among plant hormone signaling pathways to uncover plant salt tolerance mechanisms are also discussed in this review.

花青素等黄酮类物质，既是人体所需的营养保健成分，也是介导植物适应逆境胁迫的重要代谢物。以3个不同种皮颜色的花生品种为研究对象，在苗期以150 mmol/L的NaCl进行盐胁迫处理，测定植株性状、类黄酮含量和抗氧化酶活性，分析不同品种的抗氧化能力和耐盐性。结果表明，盐胁迫抑制了株高、叶面积和生物量，3个品种的耐盐系数从高到低依次为济花黑1号、济花红1号、远杂9102。与远杂9102相比，济花红1号和济花黑1号MDA含量相对较低。盐胁迫显著提高了济花红1号和济花黑1号根系的SOD、POD、CAT等抗氧化酶活性。济花红1号和济花黑1号根系类黄酮含量和在盐胁迫下的相对值大于远杂9102。相关分析表明，相对类黄酮含量和MDA含量与耐盐系数显著相关，类黄酮与SOD活性、MDA含量、株高和叶面积相对值极显著相关。盐胁迫引起济花红1号和济花黑1号类黄酮大量积累，激活了抗氧化保护能力，可有效降低MDA的积累，减轻氧化损伤，缓解盐胁迫对植株生长的抑制作用。研究结果为筛选和推广耐盐碱的彩色花生提供了依据。

Salt stress could inhibit the growth and development of crops and negatively affect yield and quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the physiological responses of different asparagus cultivars to salt stress. Twenty days old seedlings ofasalt-tolerant Apollo andasalt-sensitive cultivar JL1 were subjected to 0 (CK) and120 mM NaCl stress for 20 d. Their changes in growth, ion contents, antioxidant enzyme activities and gene expression were analyzed. Salt stress significantly inhibited the growth of both cultivars, and JL1 showed a greater decrease than Apollo. The root development of Apollo was promoted by 120 mM NaCl treatment. The Na+ content in roots, stems, and leaves of both cultivars was increased under salt stress, while K+ content and K+/Na+ decreased. The salt-tolerant cultivar Apollo showed less extent of increase in Na+ and decrease in K+ content and kept a relatively high K+/Na+ ratio to compare with JL1. The contents of proline, soluble sugar and protein increased in Apollo, while thesesubstances changed differently in JL1 under salt stress. Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) were gradually increased under salt stress in Apollo, while the corresponding enzyme activities in JL1 were decreased at the late stage of salt stress. The expression of SOD, POD, and CAT genes of both cultivars changed in a similar way to the enzyme activities. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was increased slightly in Apollo, while increased significantly in JL1. At the late stage of salt stress, Apollomaintained a relatively high K+/Na+, osmotic adjustment ability and antioxidant defense capability, and therefore exhibited higher tolerance to salt stress than that of JL1.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are beneficial microorganisms in soil-plant interactions; however, the underlying mechanisms regarding their roles in legumes environmental stress remain elusive. Present trials were undertaken to study the effect of AMF on the ameliorating of salt, drought, and cold stress in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants. A new product of AMF combined with Rhizophagus irregularis SA, Rhizophagus clarus BEG142, Glomus lamellosum ON393, and Funneliformis mosseae BEG95 (1: 1: 1: 1, w/w/w/w) was inoculated with peanut and the physiological and metabolomic responses of the AMF-inoculated and non-inoculated peanut plants to salt, drought, and cold stress were comprehensively characterized, respectively.AMF-inoculated plants exhibited higher plant growth, leaf relative water content (RWC), net photosynthetic rate, maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm), activities of antioxidant enzymes, and K: Na ratio while lower leaf relative electrolyte conductivity (REC), concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under stressful conditions. Moreover, the structures of chloroplast thylakoids and mitochondria in AMF-inoculated plants were less damaged by these stresses. Non-targeted metabolomics indicated that AMF altered numerous pathways associated with organic acids and amino acid metabolisms in peanut roots under both normal-growth and stressful conditions, which were further improved by the osmolytes accumulation data.This study provides a promising AMF product and demonstrates that this AMF combination could enhance peanut salt, drought, and cold stress tolerance through improving plant growth, protecting photosystem, enhancing antioxidant system, and regulating osmotic adjustment.© 2023. The Author(s).

Anthocyanin is an important pigment that prevents oxidative stress and mediates adaptation of plants to salt stress. Peanuts with dark red and black testa are rich in anthocyanin. However, correlation between salt tolerance and anthocyanin content in black and dark red testa peanuts is unknown. In this study, three peanut cultivars namely YZ9102 (pink testa), JHR1 (red testa) and JHB1 (black testa) were subjected to sodium chloride (NaCl) stress. The plant growth, ion uptake, anthocyanin accumulation, oxidation resistance and photosynthetic traits were comparatively analyzed. We observed that the plant height, leaf area and biomass under salt stress was highly inhibited in pink color testa (YZ9102) as compare to black color testa (JHB1). JHB1, a black testa colored peanut was identified as the most salt-tolerance cultivar, followed by red (JHR1) and pink(YZ9102). During salt stress, JHB1 exhibited significantly higher levels of anthocyanin and flavonoid accumulation compared to JHR1 and YZ9102, along with increased relative activities of antioxidant protection and photosynthetic efficiency. However, the K+/Na+ and Ca2+/Na+ were consistently decreased among three cultivars under salt stress, suggesting that the salt tolerance of black testa peanut may not be related to ion absorption. Therefore, we predicted that salt tolerance of JHB1 may be attributed to the accumulation of the anthocyanin and flavonoids, which activated antioxidant protection against the oxidative damage to maintain the higher photosynthetic efficiency and plant growth. These findings will be useful for improving salt tolerance of peanuts.

Soil salinity is becoming a growing issue nowadays, severely affecting the world’s most productive agricultural landscapes. With intersecting and competitive challenges of shrinking agricultural lands and increasing demand for food, there is an emerging need to build resilience for adaptation to anticipated climate change and land degradation. This necessitates the deep decoding of a gene pool of crop plant wild relatives which can be accomplished through salt-tolerant species, such as halophytes, in order to reveal the underlying regulatory mechanisms. Halophytes are generally defined as plants able to survive and complete their life cycle in highly saline environments of at least 200-500 mM of salt solution. The primary criterion for identifying salt-tolerant grasses (STGs) includes the presence of salt glands on the leaf surface and the Na+ exclusion mechanism since the interaction and replacement of Na+ and K+ greatly determines the survivability of STGs in saline environments. During the last decades or so, various salt-tolerant grasses/halophytes have been explored for the mining of salt-tolerant genes and testing their efficacy to improve the limit of salt tolerance in crop plants. Still, the utility of halophytes is limited due to the non-availability of any model halophytic plant system as well as the lack of complete genomic information. To date, although Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and salt cress (Thellungiella halophila) are being used as model plants in most salt tolerance studies, these plants are short-lived and can tolerate salinity for a shorter duration only. Thus, identifying the unique genes for salt tolerance pathways in halophytes and their introgression in a related cereal genome for better tolerance to salinity is the need of the hour. Modern technologies including RNA sequencing and genome-wide mapping along with advanced bioinformatics programs have advanced the decoding of the whole genetic information of plants and the development of probable algorithms to correlate stress tolerance limit and yield potential. Hence, this article has been compiled to explore the naturally occurring halophytes as potential model plant species for abiotic stress tolerance and to further breed crop plants to enhance salt tolerance through genomic and molecular tools.

In autumn and spring, citrus leaves with a Ponkan (Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Ponkan) genetic background (Harumi, Daya, etc.) are prone to abnormal physiological chlorosis. The effects of different degrees of chlorosis (normal, mild, moderate and severe) on photosynthesis and the chlorophyll metabolism of leaves of Citrus cultivar (Harumi) were studied via field experiment. Compared with severe chlorotic leaves, the results showed that chlorosis could break leaf metabolism balance, including reduced chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters, antioxidant enzyme activity and enzyme activity related to chlorophyll synthesis, increased catalase and decreased enzyme activity. In addition, the content of chlorophyll synthesis precursors showed an overall downward trend expected for uroporphyrinogen III. Furthermore, the relative expression of genes for chlorophyll synthesis (HEMA1, HEME2, HEMG1 and CHLH) was down-regulated to some extent and chlorophyll degradation (CAO, CLH, PPH, PAO and SGR) showed the opposite trend with increased chlorosis. Changes in degradation were more significant. In general, the chlorosis of Harumi leaves might be related to the blocked transformation of uroporphyrinogen III (Urogen III) to coproporphyrinogen III (Coprogen III), the weakening of antioxidant enzyme system activity, the weakening of chlorophyll synthesis and the enhancement in degradation.

Nowadays, crop insufficiency resulting from soil salinization is threatening the world. On the basis that soil salinization has become a worldwide problem, studying the mechanisms of plant salt tolerance is of great theoretical and practical significance to improve crop yield, to cultivate new salt-tolerant varieties, and to make full use of saline land. Based on previous studies, this paper reviews the damage of salt stress to plants, including suppression of photosynthesis, disturbance of ion homeostasis, and membrane peroxidation. We have also summarized the physiological mechanisms of salt tolerance, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and osmotic adjustment. Four main stress-related signaling pathways, salt overly sensitive (SOS) pathway, calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) pathway, and abscisic acid (ABA) pathway, are included. We have also enumerated some salt stress-responsive genes that correspond to physiological mechanisms. In the end, we have outlined the present approaches and techniques to improve salt tolerance of plants. All in all, we reviewed those aspects above, in the hope of providing valuable background knowledge for the future cultivation of agricultural and forestry plants.