New developments in understanding cotton's physiological and molecular responses to salt stress

Abstract

• Soil salinity poses a significant global challenge, affecting plant development and agricultural productivity, with cotton's salt tolerance mechanisms being crucial for improving yields in saline conditions. • This review examines cotton's responses to salt stress, focusing on physiological impacts like photosynthesis inhibition and ion imbalance, as well as key mechanisms such as osmotic adjustment and reactive oxygen species scavenging. • Molecular-level insights, including gene expression changes and key signaling pathways, are explored to provide a comprehensive understanding of cotton's salt tolerance, offering practical strategies for enhancing resilience in saline environments. Soil salinity is a growing global concern due to its impact on plant development, agricultural production, and ecosystem stability. Understanding the salt tolerance mechanisms in cotton plants is essential for the development of methods to increase agricultural yields in salinized conditions. This comprehensive review explores the molecular and physiological responses of cotton to salt stress. Investigation on the adverse effects of salinity stress on cotton, such as photosynthetic process malfunction, ion imbalance and membrane peroxidation. The review details the critical physiological mechanisms cotton employs to mitigate salt stress effects, such as osmotic adjustment and reactive oxygen species scavenging. Additionally, we discussed the main signaling pathways activated in response to salt stress, which include the hypersensitive response protein kinase, calcium-dependent protein kinase, and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. The review discussed the molecular mechanism involved in salt tolerance, including gene expression changes, transcriptional regulation, epigenetic modulation, and genome editing techniques that play key roles in salt tolerance. The integrating findings from genetic, biochemical, and physiological studies provide a holistic understanding of the regulatory networks governing salt tolerance in cotton. These achievements highlight practical approaches for enhancing salt tolerance in cotton genotypes to improve productivity in saline conditions.

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