Biochemical Mechanism Unlocking Their Potential Role in Salt Tolerance Mechanism of Zizyphus Germplasm

Salinity is one of the major constraints reducing plant growth and yield. Irrigation with poor quality and brackish water to orchards is a major cause of stunted growth and low yield. The salt tolerance mechanism is one of the complicated genomic characters that is very problematic to develop in fruit trees and becomes much more severe at any growth and developmental stage. Osmotic stress and hormonal imbalances are major constraints causing low biomass production. Fruit tree tolerance/sensitivity is chiefly based on the activation of a defense system com-prised of super-oxidase dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalases (CAT), non-enzymatic compounds including ascorbic acid, phenolics, flavonoids, stress indicators [i.e., hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lipid peroxida-tion, malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and osmolytes containing proline, glycine-betaine (GB), ascorbates (APX), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione reductase (GR)]. Tolerant genotypes must have higher antioxidant assays to cope with the adverse effects of salinity stress because their defense system had the potential to scavenge toxic ROS and protect from membrane leakage. Some work is conducted on agronomic and horticultural crops; however, underutilized fruit crops are still neglected and need serious consideration from plant researchers. Minor fruit crops especially Zizyphus had excellent nutritional aspects. The current study pro-vides detailed insights into the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of Zizyphus species to cope with the adverse effects of salinity by improving their plant defense system. The development of salt-tolerant germplasm is a requisite and can be developed by utilization of physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms. Appli-cation of different molecular approaches (i.e., genome mapping, genome editing, genetic transformation, proteo-mics, transcriptomics, and metabolites) are effective for higher yield by improving tolerance mechanisms.

Automated summary

Salinity is a major constraint for plant growth and yield. Irrigation with poor quality water is a main cause of stunted growth and low yield in orchards. The salt tolerance mechanism is complex and problematic to develop in fruit trees, especially at different growth stages. Osmotic stress and hormonal imbalances are significant constraints for biomass production. Fruit tree tolerance/sensitivity is based on the activation of defense systems, such as enzymes and non-enzymatic compounds, to scavenge toxic reactive oxygen species and protect from membrane leakage. The development of salt-tolerant germplasm in underutilized fruit crops, like Zizyphus, through physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms can lead to higher yields.