Salt tolerance research in date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.), past, present, and future perspectives

The date palm can adapt to extreme drought, to heat, and to relatively high levels of soil salinity. However, excessive amounts of salt due to irrigation with brackish water lead to a significant reduction in the productivity of the fruits as well as marked decrease in the viable numbers of the date...

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Published in:Frontiers in plant science Vol. 6; p. 348
Main Authors: Yaish, Mahmoud W., Kumar, Prakash P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media SA 18.05.2015
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects:
abiotic stress
Adaptation
Agricultural production
Brackish water
date palm
DNA methylation
Drought
Extreme drought
Flowers & plants
Gene expression
Genetic resources
Genetics
Genomes
Histology
Irrigation water
Metabolism
omics
Phoenix dactylifera
Physiology
Plant Science
Post-transcription
reverse genetic
Salinity
Salinity effects
Salinity tolerance
Salt
Salt tolerance
Soil salinity
Oman
salinity
reverse genetics
omics
Phoenix dactylifera L
date palm
abiotic stress
ISSN:1664-462X, 1664-462X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The date palm can adapt to extreme drought, to heat, and to relatively high levels of soil salinity. However, excessive amounts of salt due to irrigation with brackish water lead to a significant reduction in the productivity of the fruits as well as marked decrease in the viable numbers of the date palm trees. It is imperative that the nature of the existing salt-adaptation mechanism be understood in order to develop future date palm varieties that can tolerate excessive soil salinity. In this perspective article, several research strategies, obstacles, and precautions are discussed in light of recent advancements accomplished in this field and the properties of this species. In addition to a physiological characterization, we propose the use of a full range of OMICS technologies, coupled with reverse genetics approaches, aimed toward understanding the salt-adaption mechanism in the date palm. Information generated by these analyses should highlight transcriptional and posttranscriptional modifications controlling the salt-adaptation mechanisms. As an extremophile with a natural tolerance for a wide range of abiotic stresses, the date palm may represent a treasure trove of novel genetic resources for salinity tolerance.
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This article was submitted to Plant Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Edited by: Yuichi Tada, Tokyo University of Technology, Japan
Reviewed by: Gad Galili, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; Sara Maldonado, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
ISSN:1664-462X
1664-462X
DOI:10.3389/fpls.2015.00348