The phytohormonal regulation of Na+/K+ and reactive oxygen species homeostasis in rice salt response

Soil salinity is widespread in rice-producing areas globally, restricting both vegetative growth and grain yield. Improving salt tolerance of rice is a promising approach to meet the increasing food demand. An extensive literature survey indicates that maintaining proper Na+/K+ ratio and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content is the key issues for rice adaption to salt stress. In this review, distinctive from the existing reviews, we mainly discuss recent progresses in identifying the components and pathways involved in the rice response to salt stress and the approaches that can be used for breeding and cultivating salt-tolerant rice, pointing out the potential phytohormonal regulation of the components and the homeostasis of Na+/K+ and ROS. Thus, this review attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent research on rice adaption to salt stress, which may provide guidance for rice breeding to engineer better salt-tolerant rice varieties.