Can we Achieve Salt Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants by Genetic Engineering Methods?

Nearly 20% of the world's irrigated land is affected by soil salinity. In fact, salt stress is one of the major constraints for crop productivity throughout the world and can result in losses to the tune of billions of US dollars on a global scale. But, to maintain the global food production rates in the future to meet the food demands, plant breeding and genetic engineering technologies need to be complemented so as to alter the salt stress tolerance of crop plants. Recent progress in molecular genetics has helped us in identifying the mechanisms and several of the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and validation of individual genes that have been identified with salt stress tolerance. Many of these genes have also been tested in different plants as a proof of concept. In this review, we like to highlight the importance of genetic engineering technologies to generate transgenic crops that can help to mitigate the salt stress in crop plants.